Alibaba Group Holding Limited (NYSE:BABA) Shares Purchased by Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC

Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Alibaba Group Holding Limited (NYSE:BABA) by 7.7% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 3,571 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 255 shares during the quarter. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC’s holdings in Alibaba Group were worth $303,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. acquired a new stake in Alibaba Group during the fourth quarter worth approximately $31,000. Sierra Ocean LLC acquired a new stake in Alibaba Group during the fourth quarter worth approximately $32,000. Kieckhefer Group LLC acquired a new stake in Alibaba Group during the fourth quarter worth approximately $55,000. Vision Financial Markets LLC purchased a new position in Alibaba Group during the fourth quarter worth approximately $55,000. Finally, Golden State Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Alibaba Group during the fourth quarter worth approximately $60,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 13.47% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on BABA. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Alibaba Group from $130.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Alibaba Group from $133.00 to $138.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Alibaba Group from $125.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. StockNews.com raised shares of Alibaba Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein raised shares of Alibaba Group from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $104.00 to $165.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Fifteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $144.07.

Alibaba Group Stock Performance

Shares of BABA stock opened at $135.16 on Friday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $116.49 and its 200-day simple moving average is $100.78. The company has a market cap of $321.14 billion, a PE ratio of 19.53, a P/E/G ratio of 0.61 and a beta of 0.27. Alibaba Group Holding Limited has a 52 week low of $68.36 and a 52 week high of $148.43. The company has a current ratio of 1.48, a quick ratio of 1.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19.

Alibaba Group (NYSE:BABA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The specialty retailer reported $2.77 earnings per share 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 analyst estimates 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 research 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.