Alibaba Group (NYSE:BABA) Trading Up 2% – Time to Buy?

Alibaba Group Holding Limited (NYSE:BABA) was up 2% during trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $84.39 and last traded at $83.96. Approximately 4,927,332 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 72% from the average daily volume of 17,358,576 shares. The stock had previously closed at $82.28.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on BABA shares. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Alibaba Group from $106.00 to $124.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of Alibaba Group from $137.00 to $130.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. StockNews.com lowered Alibaba Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, December 14th. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on Alibaba Group from $88.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Benchmark restated a “buy” rating and issued a $118.00 price target on shares of Alibaba Group in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $114.07.

Alibaba Group Stock Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $203.97 billion, a PE ratio of 17.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.44 and a beta of 0.30. 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 business’s fifty day simple moving average is $91.45 and its 200-day simple moving average is $86.69.

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, beating 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $239.45 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.82 earnings per share. Alibaba Group’s quarterly revenue was up 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Alibaba Group Holding Limited will post 8.44 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Alibaba Group

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. TRUE Private Wealth Advisors raised its holdings in shares of Alibaba Group by 3.7% during the 3rd quarter. TRUE Private Wealth Advisors now owns 3,123 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $331,000 after acquiring an additional 112 shares in the last quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Alibaba Group by 6.0% during the third quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,152 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $228,000 after purchasing an additional 121 shares in the last quarter. ICA Group Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Alibaba Group by 14.6% during the second quarter. ICA Group Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,004 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $72,000 after purchasing an additional 128 shares during the last quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Alibaba Group by 4.3% in the 3rd quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,400 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $361,000 after buying an additional 139 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. increased its holdings in shares of Alibaba Group by 3.0% in the 3rd quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 4,857 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $515,000 after buying an additional 143 shares during the last quarter. 13.47% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.