Alibaba Group (NYSE:BABA) Shares Gap Up – Still a Buy?

Alibaba Group Holding Limited (NYSE:BABA)’s stock price gapped up before the market opened on Friday . The stock had previously closed at $100.38, but opened at $104.46. Alibaba Group shares last traded at $106.34, with a volume of 20,054,347 shares traded.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BABA has been the topic of a number of research reports. StockNews.com lowered shares of Alibaba Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, December 14th. Benchmark restated a “buy” rating and issued a $118.00 price objective on shares of Alibaba Group in a report on Friday, November 15th. Mizuho lifted their target price on Alibaba Group from $92.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Barclays decreased their price target on Alibaba Group from $137.00 to $130.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, Citigroup lifted 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. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Alibaba Group currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $115.13.

Alibaba Group Price Performance

The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $87.72 and its 200 day simple moving average is $89.41. The firm has a market capitalization of $248.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.21, a PEG ratio of 0.42 and a beta of 0.31. 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 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.87 by $13.19. The business had revenue of $236.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $239.45 billion. Alibaba Group had a return on equity of 12.28% and a net margin of 8.98%. The firm’s revenue was up 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.82 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Alibaba Group Holding Limited will post 7.86 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in BABA. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its position in Alibaba Group by 1,392.6% in the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 6,125,542 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $650,043,000 after buying an additional 5,715,155 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its stake 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 worth $409,385,000 after acquiring an additional 3,740,150 shares in the last quarter. Hhlr Advisors LTD. raised its holdings in shares of Alibaba Group by 64.1% in the third 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 during the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its position in shares of Alibaba Group by 454.2% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,611,571 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $383,260,000 after purchasing an additional 2,959,954 shares in the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Alibaba Group by 9,205.2% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,697,358 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $1,801,240,000 after purchasing an additional 1,679,117 shares during the last quarter. 13.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.