Alibaba Group (NYSE:BABA) Trading Up 4.8% – Still a Buy?

Shares of Alibaba Group Holding Limited (NYSE:BABA) were up 4.8% during trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $141.33 and last traded at $138.84. Approximately 14,006,960 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 25% from the average daily volume of 18,680,048 shares. The stock had previously closed at $132.54.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BABA has been the topic of a number of research reports. Bank of America increased their price target on Alibaba Group from $117.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Sanford C. Bernstein raised 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 research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Arete Research raised shares of Alibaba Group to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Alibaba Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Alibaba Group from $125.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Fifteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $144.07.

Alibaba Group Trading Up 0.9 %

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 $328.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.61 and a beta of 0.28. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $108.56 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $97.90.

Alibaba Group (NYSE:BABA) last released its 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). Alibaba Group had a return on equity of 12.89% and a net margin of 12.29%. The firm had revenue of $38.38 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $38.19 billion. Equities analysts forecast that Alibaba Group Holding Limited will post 7.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Alibaba Group by 21.1% during the 4th quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 155,440 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $13,180,000 after purchasing an additional 27,088 shares in the last quarter. Berkshire Asset Management LLC PA acquired a new stake in Alibaba Group during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $911,000. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC boosted its holdings in Alibaba Group by 131.2% during the fourth quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 74,807 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $6,343,000 after buying an additional 42,446 shares in the last quarter. Bailard Inc. grew its position in Alibaba Group by 46.3% in the fourth quarter. Bailard Inc. now owns 10,245 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $869,000 after buying an additional 3,242 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its holdings in shares of Alibaba Group by 7,734.1% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 269,805 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $28,632,000 after buying an additional 266,361 shares in the last quarter. 13.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.