Alibaba Group (NYSE:BABA) Trading Up 5.9% Following Analyst Upgrade

Alibaba Group Holding Limited (NYSE:BABA) shares were up 5.9% on Friday after Benchmark raised their price target on the stock from $118.00 to $190.00. Benchmark currently has a buy rating on the stock. Alibaba Group traded as high as $145.30 and last traded at $143.98. Approximately 36,925,402 shares traded hands during trading, an increase of 27% from the average daily volume of 29,088,836 shares. The stock had previously closed at $135.97.

Several other research firms have also weighed in on BABA. Citigroup raised their price objective on Alibaba Group from $133.00 to $138.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 10th. StockNews.com raised Alibaba Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Alibaba Group from $125.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday. Mizuho raised their price objective on Alibaba Group from $92.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on Alibaba Group from $130.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $131.93.

Institutional Trading of Alibaba Group

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of BABA. AMF Tjanstepension AB raised its holdings in shares of Alibaba Group by 6.9% during the third quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 2,789,883 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $296,062,000 after acquiring an additional 178,999 shares in the last quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Alibaba Group by 47.1% during the third quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 100,975 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $10,715,000 after acquiring an additional 32,324 shares in the last quarter. Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI purchased a new stake in shares of Alibaba Group during the third quarter worth $299,000. Brighton Jones LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Alibaba Group during the third quarter worth $258,000. Finally, Zweig DiMenna Associates LLC raised its holdings in Alibaba Group by 582.5% during the third quarter. Zweig DiMenna Associates LLC now owns 61,500 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $6,526,000 after buying an additional 52,489 shares in the last quarter. 13.47% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Alibaba Group Trading Up 5.7 %

The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $95.43 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $92.88. 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 company has a market capitalization of $341.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.53 and a beta of 0.31.

Alibaba Group (NYSE:BABA) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The specialty retailer reported $2.77 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.84 by ($0.07). Alibaba Group had a net margin of 8.98% and a return on equity of 12.28%. The company had revenue of $38.38 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $38.19 billion. On average, analysts forecast that Alibaba Group Holding Limited will post 7.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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.