StockNews.com Downgrades Alibaba Group (NYSE:BABA) to Hold

Alibaba Group (NYSE:BABA) was downgraded by investment analysts at StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report issued on Wednesday.

A number of other research firms also recently commented on BABA. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded Alibaba Group from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $104.00 to $165.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Alibaba Group from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price target for the company from $100.00 to $180.00 in a report on Monday, February 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Alibaba Group from $125.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Arete Research raised shares of Alibaba Group to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Alibaba Group from $117.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $144.07.

Alibaba Group Price Performance

BABA opened at $135.69 on Wednesday. Alibaba Group has a 1 year low of $68.36 and a 1 year high of $148.43. 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’s 50 day simple moving average is $120.65 and its 200 day simple moving average is $102.09. The stock has a market capitalization of $322.39 billion, a PE ratio of 19.61, a P/E/G ratio of 0.61 and a beta of 0.28.

Alibaba Group (NYSE:BABA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The specialty retailer reported $2.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.84 by ($0.07). The company had revenue of $38.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $38.19 billion. Alibaba Group had a net margin of 12.29% and a return on equity of 12.89%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Alibaba Group will post 7.86 EPS for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Alibaba Group

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Alibaba Group by 21.1% in the fourth quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 155,440 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $13,180,000 after buying an additional 27,088 shares during the last quarter. Berkshire Asset Management LLC PA bought a new stake in shares of Alibaba Group in the 4th quarter worth about $911,000. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC raised its stake in shares of Alibaba Group by 131.2% in the 4th quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 74,807 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $6,343,000 after purchasing an additional 42,446 shares in the last quarter. Bailard Inc. lifted its position in shares of Alibaba Group by 46.3% during the fourth quarter. Bailard Inc. now owns 10,245 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $869,000 after purchasing an additional 3,242 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Aspex Management HK Ltd acquired a new position in Alibaba Group in the third quarter worth about $115,995,000. 13.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.