Surge in Short Interest for Kingsoft Cloud Holdings Limited

Kingsoft Cloud Holdings Limited (NASDAQ:KC) experienced a significant rise in short interest in the month of February. As of February 15th, the total short interest reached 13,120,000 shares, marking an increase of 23.9% from the January 31st figure of 10,590,000 shares. Given the average trading volume of 4,130,000 shares, the current days-to-cover ratio stands at 3.2 days.

Institutional Investor Activity

Recent activities by hedge funds and institutional investors have altered their stakes in Kingsoft Cloud. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. invested approximately $21,076,000 in the company's shares during the fourth quarter. Similarly, Voloridge Investment Management LLC acquired new shares valued at around $16,345,000. Millennium Management LLC made a substantial increase of 4,098.3% in its stake, now holding a total of 895,004 shares worth $9,389,000 after adding 873,686 shares last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC also boosted its ownership by 69.8% during the fourth quarter, acquiring an additional 356,834 shares, raising its total to 867,934 shares valued at $9,105,000. Additionally, Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. expanded its holdings dramatically by 628.2%, now owning 806,902 shares worth $8,464,000 after purchasing 696,094 additional shares. In total, institutional investors and hedge funds control 13.40% of the stock.

Current Price Performance of Kingsoft Cloud

On Wednesday, Kingsoft Cloud's shares traded at $17.21, increasing by $1.19. The trading volume reached 4,972,264 shares, surpassing its average volume of 3,855,129. The company's market capitalization is estimated at $4.37 billion, with a price-to-earnings ratio of -14.34 and a beta value of 2.31. Over the past year, the stock has fluctuated significantly, with a low of $2.02 and a high of $22.26. The 50-day simple moving average is currently at $13.94, while the 200-day moving average stands at $7.74. The firm maintains a current ratio and quick ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10.

Analyst Perspectives on Kingsoft Cloud

Several research firms have recently shared their views on Kingsoft Cloud. Nomura downgraded the stock from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating, and Nomura Securities also adjusted their rating from "strong-buy" to "hold." On the other hand, UBS Group upgraded Kingsoft Cloud from a "neutral" to a "buy" rating and raised their price target from $4.20 to $12.50. Currently, three equities research analysts have assigned a hold rating, while five have rated the stock as a buy. According to MarketBeat data, the average rating for the stock is "Moderate Buy," with a target price of $5.93.

About Kingsoft Cloud

Kingsoft Cloud Holdings Limited specializes in providing cloud services primarily to businesses and organizations in China. Their product offerings include a variety of cloud solutions such as Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), Platform as a Service (PaaS), and Software as a Service (SaaS), which cover areas like cloud computing, networking, databases, big data, security, storage, and delivery.

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