Alibaba Group (NYSE:BABA) Trading Up 0.1% – Here’s What Happened

Alibaba Group Holding Limited (NYSE:BABA)’s share price rose 0.1% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $136.25 and last traded at $134.68. Approximately 8,990,459 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 53% from the average daily volume of 19,036,118 shares. The stock had previously closed at $134.48.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BABA has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Alibaba Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Bank of America upped their price objective on Alibaba Group from $117.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded Alibaba Group from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $104.00 to $165.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Arete Research upgraded Alibaba Group to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Benchmark lifted their price objective on shares of Alibaba Group from $118.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Fifteen research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $144.07.

Alibaba Group Trading Down 1.4 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a current ratio of 1.48 and a quick ratio of 1.48. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $117.57 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $101.28. The firm has a market cap of $315.20 billion, a PE ratio of 19.17, a PEG ratio of 0.61 and a beta of 0.28.

Alibaba Group (NYSE:BABA) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The specialty retailer reported $2.77 earnings per share (EPS) 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 business had revenue of $38.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $38.19 billion. Analysts forecast that Alibaba Group Holding Limited will post 7.86 EPS for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Alibaba Group

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of BABA. Sanders Capital LLC increased its stake in shares of Alibaba Group by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 18,460,434 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $1,959,021,000 after acquiring an additional 60,667 shares during the last quarter. Appaloosa LP increased its position in Alibaba Group by 18.4% during the fourth quarter. Appaloosa LP now owns 11,843,158 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $1,004,181,000 after purchasing an additional 1,843,158 shares during the last quarter. Hhlr Advisors LTD. raised its stake in Alibaba Group by 64.1% during the third quarter. Hhlr Advisors LTD. now owns 8,827,600 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $936,785,000 after purchasing an additional 3,448,152 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Alibaba Group in the 4th quarter valued at $585,479,000. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE grew its stake in shares of Alibaba Group by 7.0% during the 4th quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 6,676,773 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $566,124,000 after buying an additional 438,537 shares during the period. 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.