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

StockNews.com lowered shares of Alibaba Group (NYSE:BABA) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report sent to investors on Thursday morning.

Several other research firms have also weighed in on BABA. Barclays reduced their target price on Alibaba Group from $137.00 to $130.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Alibaba Group from $133.00 to $138.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 10th. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on shares of Alibaba Group from $88.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Benchmark restated a “buy” rating and set a $118.00 price target on shares of Alibaba Group in a report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Mizuho lifted 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. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Alibaba Group currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $115.86.

Alibaba Group Stock Up 1.0 %

Alibaba Group stock opened at $119.55 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $284.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.25, a P/E/G ratio of 0.42 and a beta of 0.31. Alibaba Group has a 1-year low of $68.36 and a 1-year high of $119.81. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $89.76 and its 200-day simple moving average is $90.50. The company has a current ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16.

Alibaba Group (NYSE:BABA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, November 15th. The specialty retailer reported $15.06 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.87 by $13.19. The company had revenue of $236.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $239.45 billion. Alibaba Group had a return on equity of 12.28% and a net margin of 8.98%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.82 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Alibaba Group will post 7.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Alibaba Group by 21.1% in the 4th quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 155,440 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $13,180,000 after buying an additional 27,088 shares in the last quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC raised its position in Alibaba Group by 131.2% in the fourth quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 74,807 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $6,343,000 after purchasing an additional 42,446 shares in the last quarter. Generate Investment Management Ltd bought a new position in Alibaba Group during the third quarter worth about $12,656,000. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV boosted its holdings in Alibaba Group by 63.9% during the third quarter. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV now owns 28,716 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $3,047,000 after purchasing an additional 11,192 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its stake in shares of Alibaba Group by 7,734.1% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 269,805 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $28,632,000 after purchasing an additional 266,361 shares during the period. 13.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.