Alibaba Group (NYSE:BABA) Trading Up 9.3% After Analyst Upgrade

Alibaba Group Holding Limited (NYSE:BABA)’s stock price shot up 9.3% during mid-day trading on Thursday after StockNews.com upgraded the stock from a hold rating to a buy rating. The stock traded as high as $144.51 and last traded at $137.53. 68,377,350 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 151% from the average session volume of 27,286,682 shares. The stock had previously closed at $125.79.

Several other research analysts have also recently weighed in on BABA. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Alibaba Group from $133.00 to $138.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 10th. Mizuho increased their price target on shares of Alibaba Group from $92.00 to $113.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Benchmark reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $118.00 price target on shares of Alibaba Group in a report on Friday, November 15th. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on shares of Alibaba Group from $110.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Alibaba Group from $137.00 to $130.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $116.93.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BABA. Concord Wealth Partners increased its stake in Alibaba Group by 155.0% in the third quarter. Concord Wealth Partners now owns 255 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 155 shares during the last quarter. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. bought a new position in Alibaba Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Sierra Ocean LLC bought a new position in Alibaba Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Highline Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in Alibaba Group in the third quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Finally, Assetmark Inc. boosted its position in Alibaba Group by 225.4% in the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 397 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 275 shares in the last quarter. 13.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Alibaba Group Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 1.37 and a quick ratio of 1.37. The stock has a market cap of $323.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.54 and a beta of 0.31. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $94.31 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $92.42.

Alibaba Group (NYSE:BABA) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The specialty retailer reported $2.77 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.84 by ($0.07). Alibaba Group had a net margin of 8.98% and a return on equity of 12.28%. Research analysts expect that Alibaba Group Holding Limited will post 7.86 earnings per share for the current year.

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.