Alibaba Group (NYSE:BABA) Stock Price Up 0.3% Following Analyst Upgrade

Alibaba Group Holding Limited (NYSE:BABA) shares rose 0.3% during mid-day trading on Monday after Citigroup raised their price target on the stock from $133.00 to $138.00. Citigroup currently has a buy rating on the stock. Alibaba Group traded as high as $81.08 and last traded at $80.80. Approximately 3,626,866 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 66% from the average daily volume of 10,821,382 shares. The stock had previously closed at $80.53.

A number of other equities analysts also recently commented on the stock. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of Alibaba Group from $106.00 to $124.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on Alibaba Group from $88.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Macquarie upgraded Alibaba Group from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $145.00 target price on the stock in a report on Monday, October 7th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Alibaba Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, December 14th. Finally, Benchmark reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $118.00 price objective on shares of Alibaba Group in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Alibaba Group has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $115.13.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Primecap Management Co. CA raised its position in shares of Alibaba Group by 5.2% during the 2nd quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 21,870,987 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $1,574,711,000 after acquiring an additional 1,074,175 shares in the last quarter. Sanders Capital LLC increased its stake 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. lifted 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 worth $936,785,000 after buying an additional 3,448,152 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its holdings 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 buying an additional 5,715,155 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its position in shares of Alibaba Group by 3,180.1% during 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 buying an additional 3,740,150 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 13.47% of the company’s stock.

Alibaba Group Trading Up 1.4 %

The company has a quick ratio of 1.37, a current ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $86.88 and its two-hundred day moving average is $87.66. The stock has a market cap of $194.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.44 and a beta of 0.30.

Alibaba Group (NYSE:BABA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, November 15th. The specialty retailer reported $15.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.87 by $13.19. The business had revenue of $236.50 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $239.45 billion. Alibaba Group had a return on equity of 12.28% and a net margin of 8.98%. The business’s revenue was up 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.82 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Alibaba Group Holding Limited will post 8.44 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.