Alibaba Group (NYSE:BABA) Trading Up 0.1% – What’s Next?

Alibaba Group Holding Limited (NYSE:BABA) shares shot up 0.1% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $145.20 and last traded at $142.92. 6,817,401 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 64% from the average session volume of 18,901,652 shares. The stock had previously closed at $142.74.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BABA has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Benchmark upped their target price on shares of Alibaba Group from $118.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Alibaba Group from $125.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of Alibaba Group from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $104.00 to $165.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Barclays raised their price target on Alibaba Group from $130.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised Alibaba Group from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $100.00 to $180.00 in a research report on Monday, February 24th. Fifteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $144.07.

Alibaba Group Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of $320.24 billion, a PE ratio of 19.31, a P/E/G ratio of 0.61 and a beta of 0.27. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $115.40 and its 200 day moving average is $100.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a quick ratio of 1.48 and a current ratio of 1.48.

Alibaba Group (NYSE:BABA) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The specialty retailer reported $2.77 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.84 by ($0.07). Alibaba Group had a net margin of 12.29% and a return on equity of 12.89%. The business had revenue of $38.38 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $38.19 billion. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Alibaba Group Holding Limited will post 7.86 EPS for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Alibaba Group

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Sanders Capital LLC increased its stake in shares of Alibaba Group by 0.3% during the third quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 18,460,434 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $1,959,021,000 after acquiring an additional 60,667 shares during the period. Appaloosa LP raised its stake in shares of Alibaba Group by 18.4% during the 4th quarter. Appaloosa LP now owns 11,843,158 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $1,004,181,000 after buying an additional 1,843,158 shares in the last quarter. Hhlr Advisors LTD. lifted its holdings in shares of Alibaba Group by 64.1% in the 3rd quarter. Hhlr Advisors LTD. now owns 8,827,600 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $936,785,000 after buying an additional 3,448,152 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Alibaba Group during the fourth quarter worth $585,479,000. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE raised its position in Alibaba Group by 7.0% in the fourth quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 6,676,773 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $566,124,000 after acquiring an additional 438,537 shares in the last quarter. 13.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Alibaba Group Company Profile

Alibaba Group Holding Limited, through its subsidiaries, provides technology infrastructure and marketing reach to help merchants, brands, retailers, and other businesses to engage with their users and customers in the People's Republic of China and internationally. The company operates through seven segments: China Commerce, International Commerce, Local Consumer Services, Cainiao, Cloud, Digital Media and Entertainment, and Innovation Initiatives and Others.