Alibaba Group Holding Limited (NYSE:BABA) Shares Sold by Salem Investment Counselors Inc.

Salem Investment Counselors Inc. cut its position in Alibaba Group Holding Limited (NYSE:BABA) by 34.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 2,440 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 1,279 shares during the period. Salem Investment Counselors Inc.’s holdings in Alibaba Group were worth $207,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of BABA. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its holdings in Alibaba Group by 1,392.6% during the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 6,125,542 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $650,043,000 after acquiring an additional 5,715,155 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its holdings in Alibaba Group by 3,180.1% during the third 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 during the period. Hhlr Advisors LTD. grew its holdings in Alibaba Group by 64.1% during the third quarter. Hhlr Advisors LTD. now owns 8,827,600 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $936,785,000 after acquiring an additional 3,448,152 shares during the period. FMR LLC grew its holdings in Alibaba Group by 454.2% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,611,571 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $383,260,000 after acquiring an additional 2,959,954 shares during the period. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC grew 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 acquiring an additional 1,679,117 shares during the period. 13.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently commented on BABA. Barclays dropped their target price on Alibaba Group from $137.00 to $130.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Macquarie raised Alibaba Group from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $145.00 target price on the stock in a report on Monday, October 7th. Benchmark reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $118.00 price objective on shares of Alibaba Group in a report on Friday, November 15th. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on Alibaba Group from $88.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Bank of America raised their price objective on Alibaba Group from $106.00 to $124.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Alibaba Group presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $115.13.

Alibaba Group Stock Performance

NYSE BABA opened at $81.67 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $194.62 billion, a PE ratio of 16.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.44 and a beta of 0.30. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $86.88 and its 200-day simple moving average is $87.66. Alibaba Group Holding Limited has a 1-year low of $66.63 and a 1-year high of $117.82. 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 released its earnings results on Friday, November 15th. The specialty retailer reported $15.06 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.87 by $13.19. The business had revenue of $236.50 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 last year, the business posted $1.82 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Alibaba Group Holding Limited will post 8.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alibaba Group 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.