Alibaba Group (NYSE:BABA) Stock Price Up 0.7% – Still a Buy?

Alibaba Group Holding Limited (NYSE:BABA)’s stock price shot up 0.7% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $91.45 and last traded at $90.66. 3,960,082 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 69% from the average session volume of 12,787,418 shares. The stock had previously closed at $89.99.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BABA has been the subject of several recent research reports. Bank of America increased their price target on Alibaba Group from $106.00 to $124.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Mizuho boosted their price target on shares of Alibaba Group from $92.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Alibaba Group from $137.00 to $130.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on Alibaba Group from $88.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Alibaba Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, December 14th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $115.13.

Alibaba Group Stock Performance

The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $85.93 and a 200 day moving average price of $88.52. The firm has a market cap of $244.75 billion, a PE ratio of 20.84, a P/E/G ratio of 0.37 and a beta of 0.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 1.37 and a quick ratio of 1.37.

Alibaba Group (NYSE:BABA) last issued its earnings results on Friday, November 15th. The specialty retailer reported $15.06 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.87 by $13.19. Alibaba Group had a return on equity of 12.28% and a net margin of 8.98%. The business had revenue of $236.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $239.45 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.82 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Alibaba Group Holding Limited will post 7.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Sanders Capital LLC increased its position in shares of Alibaba Group by 0.3% during the third quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 18,460,434 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $1,959,021,000 after acquiring an additional 60,667 shares during the last quarter. Hhlr Advisors LTD. grew its stake in Alibaba Group by 64.1% during the 3rd quarter. Hhlr Advisors LTD. now owns 8,827,600 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $936,785,000 after purchasing an additional 3,448,152 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its holdings in Alibaba Group by 1,392.6% during the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 6,125,542 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $650,043,000 after purchasing an additional 5,715,155 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its position in shares of Alibaba Group by 3,180.1% in 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 purchasing an additional 3,740,150 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC boosted its stake in shares of Alibaba Group by 454.2% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,611,571 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $383,260,000 after buying an additional 2,959,954 shares during the last quarter. 13.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Alibaba Group Company Profile

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.