Alibaba Group Holding Limited (NYSE:BABA) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Buy” from Analysts

Alibaba Group Holding Limited (NYSE:BABA) has been assigned a consensus rating of “Buy” from the fourteen brokerages that are covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Fourteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating. The average 12-month target price among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $144.07.

A number of research firms have commented on BABA. Sanford C. Bernstein raised shares of Alibaba Group from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their target price for the company from $104.00 to $165.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Morgan Stanley upgraded 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 research note on Monday, February 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Alibaba Group from $125.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Barclays lifted their price target on Alibaba Group from $130.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on shares of Alibaba Group from $110.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th.

Alibaba Group Stock Performance

BABA opened at $130.82 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.48, a current ratio of 1.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19. Alibaba Group has a 52-week low of $68.36 and a 52-week high of $145.30. The company has a market cap of $310.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.90, a PEG ratio of 0.61 and a beta of 0.31. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $101.27 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $95.35.

Alibaba Group (NYSE:BABA) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The specialty retailer reported $2.77 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.84 by ($0.07). The business had revenue of $38.38 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $38.19 billion. Alibaba Group had a net margin of 12.29% and a return on equity of 12.89%. Equities analysts anticipate that Alibaba Group will post 7.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Alibaba Group

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Alibaba Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Sierra Ocean LLC acquired a new position in shares of Alibaba Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. Assetmark Inc. grew its stake in Alibaba Group by 225.4% during the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 397 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 275 shares during the period. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL grew its stake in Alibaba Group by 59.0% during the fourth quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL now owns 539 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $46,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the period. Finally, Redwood Park Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Alibaba Group during the 4th quarter valued at about $52,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 13.47% of the company’s stock.

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.