Premier Fund Managers Ltd Makes New Investment in Alibaba Group Holding Limited (NYSE:BABA)

Premier Fund Managers Ltd purchased a new stake in Alibaba Group Holding Limited (NYSE:BABA) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund purchased 65,700 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $5,528,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in BABA. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans purchased a new position in shares of Alibaba Group in the 3rd quarter worth $321,000. Advisors Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Alibaba Group by 16.5% during the 3rd quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,338 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $460,000 after buying an additional 614 shares during the last quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Alibaba Group by 60.1% in the third quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,496 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $689,000 after purchasing an additional 2,438 shares during the period. Bank of Montreal Can bought a new stake in Alibaba Group during the third quarter valued at $63,929,000. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company acquired a new stake in shares of Alibaba Group during the third quarter worth $287,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 13.47% of the company’s stock.

Alibaba Group Trading Up 2.6 %

Shares of Alibaba Group stock opened at $135.69 on Friday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $120.65 and a 200-day simple moving average of $102.09. The firm has a market cap of $322.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.61 and a beta of 0.28. Alibaba Group Holding Limited has a fifty-two week low of $68.36 and a fifty-two week high of $148.43. The company has a quick ratio of 1.48, a current ratio of 1.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19.

Alibaba Group (NYSE:BABA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The specialty retailer reported $2.77 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.84 by ($0.07). The company had revenue of $38.38 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $38.19 billion. Alibaba Group had a return on equity of 12.89% and a net margin of 12.29%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Alibaba Group Holding Limited will post 7.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have commented on the company. StockNews.com downgraded Alibaba Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Bank of America upped their price objective on Alibaba Group from $117.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Alibaba Group from $125.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of Alibaba Group from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $104.00 to $165.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Alibaba Group from $130.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $144.07.

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.