Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC Decreases Stock Position in Alibaba Group Holding Limited (NYSE:BABA)

Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC trimmed its position in shares of Alibaba Group Holding Limited (NYSE:BABA) by 8.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 287,312 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 27,015 shares during the quarter. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC’s holdings in Alibaba Group were worth $24,361,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Appaloosa LP raised its position in shares of Alibaba Group by 18.4% in the fourth quarter. Appaloosa LP now owns 11,843,158 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $1,004,181,000 after buying an additional 1,843,158 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Alibaba Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $585,479,000. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Alibaba Group by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 5,093,828 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $431,906,000 after purchasing an additional 78,757 shares in the last quarter. North of South Capital LLP boosted its holdings in shares of Alibaba Group by 17.9% during the 4th quarter. North of South Capital LLP now owns 1,975,760 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $167,525,000 after purchasing an additional 300,432 shares during the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Alibaba Group by 5.0% in the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,507,591 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $127,829,000 after purchasing an additional 72,140 shares during the last quarter. 13.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on Alibaba Group from $110.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. StockNews.com raised shares of Alibaba Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. Benchmark boosted their target price on shares of Alibaba Group from $118.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Alibaba Group from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $100.00 to $180.00 in a report on Monday, February 24th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Alibaba Group from $125.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Fifteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Alibaba Group presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $148.14.

Alibaba Group Stock Performance

NYSE BABA opened at $116.56 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $276.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.84, a P/E/G ratio of 0.61 and a beta of 0.24. Alibaba Group Holding Limited has a 1-year low of $68.36 and a 1-year high of $148.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a current ratio of 1.48 and a quick ratio of 1.48. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $125.77 and a two-hundred day moving average of $104.10.

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

Alibaba Group 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.