Contrarius Group Holdings Ltd Buys Shares of 398,865 Alibaba Group Holding Limited (NYSE:BABA)

Contrarius Group Holdings Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Alibaba Group Holding Limited (NYSE:BABA) during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm bought 398,865 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $33,820,000. Alibaba Group comprises 2.1% of Contrarius Group Holdings Ltd’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 16th biggest holding.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of BABA. Lindbrook Capital LLC increased its position in shares of Alibaba Group by 3.7% during the 4th quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 2,829 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $240,000 after purchasing an additional 101 shares during the last quarter. Pinnacle Wealth Planning Services Inc. increased its position in shares of Alibaba Group by 3.6% during the 4th quarter. Pinnacle Wealth Planning Services Inc. now owns 3,134 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $266,000 after purchasing an additional 108 shares during the last quarter. TRUE Private Wealth Advisors increased its position in shares of Alibaba Group by 3.7% during the 3rd quarter. TRUE Private Wealth Advisors now owns 3,123 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $331,000 after purchasing an additional 112 shares during the last quarter. TBH Global Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Alibaba Group by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. TBH Global Asset Management LLC now owns 4,795 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $407,000 after purchasing an additional 112 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Xponance Inc. increased its position in shares of Alibaba Group by 4.5% during the 4th quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 2,709 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $230,000 after purchasing an additional 116 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 13.47% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BABA has been the subject of several analyst reports. StockNews.com raised shares of Alibaba Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Sanford C. Bernstein raised shares of Alibaba Group from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $104.00 to $165.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on shares of Alibaba Group from $110.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Alibaba Group from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $100.00 to $180.00 in a report on Monday, February 24th. Finally, Arete Research raised shares of Alibaba Group to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. Fifteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $144.07.

Alibaba Group Stock Up 0.4 %

NYSE BABA opened at $143.29 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a quick ratio of 1.48 and a current ratio of 1.48. The company has a market capitalization of $340.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.71, a P/E/G ratio of 0.61 and a beta of 0.27. Alibaba Group Holding Limited has a one year low of $68.36 and a one year high of $148.43. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $114.33 and a 200-day moving average price of $100.04.

Alibaba Group (NYSE:BABA) last posted 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). The firm had revenue of $38.38 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $38.19 billion. Alibaba Group had a net margin of 12.29% and a return on equity of 12.89%. As a group, equities analysts predict that Alibaba Group Holding Limited will post 7.86 EPS for the current fiscal 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.