Alibaba Group (NYSE:BABA) Trading 0.9% Higher

Alibaba Group Holding Limited (NYSE:BABA)’s stock price shot up 0.9% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $69.53 and last traded at $69.44. 2,809,136 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 85% from the average session volume of 18,184,691 shares. The stock had previously closed at $68.82.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on BABA. Benchmark reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $118.00 price objective on shares of Alibaba Group in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Citigroup dropped their price objective on Alibaba Group from $126.00 to $124.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Macquarie downgraded Alibaba Group from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $88.50 to $85.40 in a research note on Thursday, February 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on Alibaba Group from $121.00 to $105.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 8th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Alibaba Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 27th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $112.91.

Alibaba Group Price Performance

The company has a current ratio of 1.80, a quick ratio of 1.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $73.24 and a 200 day simple moving average of $76.05. The stock has a market capitalization of $174.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.71 and a beta of 0.46.

Alibaba Group (NYSE:BABA) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 7th. The specialty retailer reported $18.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $19.12 by ($0.15). Alibaba Group had a net margin of 10.75% and a return on equity of 12.65%. The business had revenue of $260.35 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $260.26 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.44 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Alibaba Group Holding Limited will post 7.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Alibaba Group

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Morgan Stanley raised its position in shares of Alibaba Group by 13.8% in the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 11,610,078 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $1,007,058,000 after buying an additional 1,406,491 shares in the last quarter. Sanders Capital LLC raised its position in shares of Alibaba Group by 322.7% in the third quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 15,029,238 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $1,303,636,000 after buying an additional 11,473,618 shares in the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Alibaba Group by 299.9% in the fourth quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 82,888 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $6,428,000 after buying an additional 62,163 shares in the last quarter. Fiduciary Alliance LLC increased its stake in Alibaba Group by 27.1% in the third quarter. Fiduciary Alliance LLC now owns 14,275 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $1,238,000 after acquiring an additional 3,040 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Certuity LLC increased its stake in Alibaba Group by 122.2% in the third quarter. Certuity LLC now owns 113,704 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $9,863,000 after acquiring an additional 62,543 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 13.47% of the company’s stock.

About Alibaba Group

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.