Essex Financial Services Inc. Decreases Holdings in Alibaba Group Holding Limited (NYSE:BABA)

Essex Financial Services Inc. trimmed its stake in Alibaba Group Holding Limited (NYSE:BABA) by 9.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 22,826 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 2,328 shares during the quarter. Essex Financial Services Inc.’s holdings in Alibaba Group were worth $1,935,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Concord Wealth Partners raised its stake in Alibaba Group by 155.0% in the 3rd quarter. Concord Wealth Partners now owns 255 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 155 shares during the period. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Alibaba Group in the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. Highline Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Alibaba Group in the third quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Assetmark Inc. raised its position in shares of Alibaba Group by 225.4% in the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 397 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 275 shares during the period. Finally, Kieckhefer Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Alibaba Group during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $55,000. 13.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on shares of Alibaba Group from $88.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Alibaba Group from $133.00 to $138.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Benchmark restated a “buy” rating and issued a $118.00 target price on shares of Alibaba Group in a research note on Friday, November 15th. StockNews.com cut Alibaba Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, December 14th. Finally, Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Alibaba Group from $137.00 to $130.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $115.86.

Alibaba Group Price Performance

BABA stock opened at $112.78 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $88.55 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $90.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 1.37 and a quick ratio of 1.37. The stock has a market cap of $268.26 billion, a PE ratio of 22.88, a P/E/G ratio of 0.42 and a beta of 0.31. Alibaba Group Holding Limited has a one year low of $68.36 and a one year high of $117.82.

Alibaba Group (NYSE:BABA) last announced its earnings results on Friday, November 15th. The specialty retailer reported $15.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.87 by $13.19. Alibaba Group had a net margin of 8.98% and a return on equity of 12.28%. The company had revenue of $236.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $239.45 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.82 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict 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.