Alibaba Group (NYSE:BABA) Cut to “Hold” at StockNews.com

StockNews.com cut shares of Alibaba Group (NYSE:BABA) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report published on Friday.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein raised shares of Alibaba Group from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $104.00 to $165.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Loop Capital set a $176.00 price objective on shares of Alibaba Group in a research report on Friday. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Alibaba Group from $130.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective 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. Finally, Citigroup decreased their price objective on shares of Alibaba Group from $170.00 to $169.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $154.21.

Alibaba Group Stock Down 0.4%

Shares of NYSE BABA opened at $123.37 on Friday. Alibaba Group has a 12-month low of $71.80 and a 12-month high of $148.43. The company has a market cap of $294.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.83, a P/E/G ratio of 0.61 and a beta of 0.24. The company has a current ratio of 1.48, a quick ratio of 1.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $123.38 and a 200 day moving average price of $107.33.

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

Alibaba Group Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a — dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 12th will be issued a $0.95 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 12th. This represents a yield of 0.8%. Alibaba Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 13.15%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Alibaba Group

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Accent Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Alibaba Group by 5.5% in the first quarter. Accent Capital Management LLC now owns 1,582 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $209,000 after acquiring an additional 82 shares during the last quarter. Greenleaf Trust lifted its holdings in Alibaba Group by 1.0% in the first quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 8,336 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $1,102,000 after acquiring an additional 85 shares during the last quarter. Marcum Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in Alibaba Group by 3.2% in the first quarter. Marcum Wealth LLC now owns 2,745 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $363,000 after acquiring an additional 86 shares during the last quarter. Principal Securities Inc. increased its stake in shares of Alibaba Group by 0.5% in the first quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 16,823 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $2,225,000 after purchasing an additional 89 shares during the period. Finally, Institute for Wealth Management LLC. increased its stake in shares of Alibaba Group by 1.1% in the first quarter. Institute for Wealth Management LLC. now owns 8,578 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $1,134,000 after purchasing an additional 93 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 13.47% of the company’s stock.

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.