Alibaba Group (NYSE:BABA) Trading Up 2.1% – Here’s What Happened

Shares of Alibaba Group Holding Limited (NYSE:BABA) traded up 2.1% during trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $129.02 and last traded at $127.41. 22,173,234 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 12% from the average session volume of 25,200,254 shares. The stock had previously closed at $124.73.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BABA has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. StockNews.com cut shares of Alibaba Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on shares of Alibaba Group from $110.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Citigroup increased their price objective on Alibaba Group from $133.00 to $138.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Mizuho lifted their target price on shares of Alibaba Group from $92.00 to $113.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $118.00 target price on shares of Alibaba Group in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $116.93.

Alibaba Group Stock Up 8.3 %

The stock has a market cap of $323.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.64, a PEG ratio of 0.54 and a beta of 0.31. The company has a quick ratio of 1.37, a current ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $93.37 and a 200-day simple moving average of $92.11.

Alibaba Group (NYSE:BABA) last posted 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). Alibaba Group had a net margin of 8.98% and a return on equity of 12.28%. Analysts expect that Alibaba Group Holding Limited will post 7.86 EPS for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Alibaba Group

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in BABA. Sanders Capital LLC grew its holdings in Alibaba Group by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 18,460,434 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $1,959,021,000 after buying an additional 60,667 shares during the last quarter. Appaloosa LP boosted 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 acquiring an additional 1,843,158 shares during the period. Hhlr Advisors LTD. grew its stake in shares of Alibaba Group by 64.1% in the third quarter. Hhlr Advisors LTD. now owns 8,827,600 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $936,785,000 after acquiring an additional 3,448,152 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in Alibaba Group during the fourth quarter worth $585,479,000. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE raised its stake in Alibaba Group by 7.0% during the 4th quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 6,676,773 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $566,124,000 after purchasing an additional 438,537 shares during the last quarter. 13.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.