Investors Purchase Large Volume of Call Options on Alibaba Group (NYSE:BABA)

Alibaba Group Holding Limited (NYSE:BABA) was the target of some unusual options trading on Thursday. Stock investors bought 272,236 call options on the company. This represents an increase of 26% compared to the typical volume of 216,456 call options.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Alibaba Group

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its position in shares of Alibaba Group by 1,392.6% in the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 6,125,542 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $650,043,000 after acquiring an additional 5,715,155 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its position in shares of Alibaba Group by 3,180.1% in the third 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 buying an additional 3,740,150 shares during the last quarter. Hhlr Advisors LTD. increased its holdings in shares of Alibaba Group by 64.1% during the 3rd quarter. Hhlr Advisors LTD. now owns 8,827,600 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $936,785,000 after acquiring an additional 3,448,152 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its stake in Alibaba Group by 454.2% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,611,571 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $383,260,000 after acquiring an additional 2,959,954 shares during the period. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in Alibaba Group by 9,205.2% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,697,358 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $1,801,240,000 after purchasing an additional 1,679,117 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 13.47% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have commented on BABA shares. Loop Capital restated a “buy” rating and issued a $115.00 price target on shares of Alibaba Group in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Truist Financial dropped their price target on Alibaba Group from $110.00 to $100.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 16th. Bank of America increased their target price on Alibaba Group from $106.00 to $124.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Macquarie upgraded shares of Alibaba Group from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $145.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Finally, Benchmark restated a “buy” rating and issued a $118.00 price objective on shares of Alibaba Group in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Alibaba Group presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $114.53.

Alibaba Group Stock Down 1.6 %

Shares of BABA traded down $1.46 on Thursday, hitting $90.54. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 16,867,333 shares, compared to its average volume of 17,633,699. The company has a quick ratio of 1.41, a current ratio of 1.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17. The firm has a market capitalization of $216.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.77, a P/E/G ratio of 0.41 and a beta of 0.35. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $97.87 and its 200-day moving average price is $85.44. Alibaba Group has a fifty-two week low of $66.63 and a fifty-two week high of $117.82.

Alibaba Group (NYSE:BABA) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 15th. The specialty retailer reported $16.44 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.87 by $14.57. The firm had revenue of $243.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $248.32 billion. Alibaba Group had a net margin of 7.31% and a return on equity of 12.08%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.47 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Alibaba Group will post 8.51 EPS for the current year.

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.