Arete Wealth Advisors LLC Raises Stock Position in Alibaba Group Holding Limited (NYSE:BABA)

Arete Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Alibaba Group Holding Limited (NYSE:BABA) by 3.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 8,249 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after buying an additional 248 shares during the quarter. Arete Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Alibaba Group were worth $700,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. bought a new stake in Alibaba Group in the fourth quarter worth $31,000. Sierra Ocean LLC bought a new position in shares of Alibaba Group during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Kieckhefer Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Alibaba Group in the fourth quarter worth approximately $55,000. Vision Financial Markets LLC bought a new stake in shares of Alibaba Group during the 4th quarter worth approximately $55,000. Finally, Golden State Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Alibaba Group during the 4th quarter valued at $60,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 13.47% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently weighed in on BABA. Morgan Stanley upgraded Alibaba Group from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $100.00 to $180.00 in a research report on Monday, February 24th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Alibaba Group from $130.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on shares of Alibaba Group from $110.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Benchmark boosted their price target on Alibaba Group from $118.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, Citigroup raised their price objective on Alibaba Group from $133.00 to $138.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 10th. Fifteen analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $148.14.

Alibaba Group Trading Down 9.9 %

NYSE BABA opened at $116.56 on Friday. Alibaba Group Holding Limited has a 52 week low of $68.36 and a 52 week high of $148.43. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $125.77 and a 200 day moving average price of $103.96. The company has a quick ratio of 1.48, a current ratio of 1.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19. The firm has a market cap of $276.85 billion, a PE ratio of 16.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.61 and a beta of 0.24.

Alibaba Group (NYSE:BABA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The specialty retailer reported $2.77 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $38.19 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Alibaba Group Holding Limited will post 7.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.