Alibaba Group (NYSE:BABA) Shares Gap Up – Still a Buy?

Alibaba Group Holding Limited (NYSE:BABA) gapped up before the market opened on Friday . The stock had previously closed at $100.38, but opened at $104.46. Alibaba Group shares last traded at $106.34, with a volume of 20,054,347 shares traded.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have commented on BABA shares. Mizuho lifted their price objective on shares of Alibaba Group from $92.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Citigroup upped their target price on Alibaba Group from $133.00 to $138.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Benchmark reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $118.00 price target on shares of Alibaba Group in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on shares of Alibaba Group from $88.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Alibaba Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, December 14th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $115.13.

Alibaba Group Stock Up 4.0 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 1.37 and a current ratio of 1.37. The company has a market cap of $248.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.21, a PEG ratio of 0.42 and a beta of 0.31. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $87.72 and its 200 day simple moving average is $89.41.

Alibaba Group (NYSE:BABA) last posted its earnings results on Friday, November 15th. The specialty retailer reported $15.06 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.87 by $13.19. Alibaba Group had a net margin of 8.98% and a return on equity of 12.28%. The company had revenue of $236.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $239.45 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.82 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that Alibaba Group Holding Limited will post 7.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Alibaba Group

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of BABA. Sanders Capital LLC boosted its position in Alibaba Group by 0.3% during the third quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 18,460,434 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $1,959,021,000 after purchasing an additional 60,667 shares during the last quarter. Hhlr Advisors LTD. grew its position in shares of Alibaba Group by 64.1% in the 3rd quarter. Hhlr Advisors LTD. now owns 8,827,600 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $936,785,000 after acquiring an additional 3,448,152 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its stake in shares of Alibaba Group by 1,392.6% during the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 6,125,542 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $650,043,000 after purchasing an additional 5,715,155 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Alibaba Group by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 5,093,828 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $431,906,000 after purchasing an additional 78,757 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its stake in Alibaba Group by 3,180.1% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 3,857,760 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $409,385,000 after purchasing an additional 3,740,150 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.