Alibaba Group (NYSE:BABA) Upgraded to “Buy” at StockNews.com

Alibaba Group (NYSE:BABA) was upgraded by stock analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report released on Friday.

BABA has been the topic of a number of other reports. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Alibaba Group from $137.00 to $130.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Mizuho increased their price target on shares of Alibaba Group from $92.00 to $113.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Alibaba Group from $133.00 to $138.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 10th. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on shares of Alibaba Group from $110.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Benchmark reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $118.00 price target on shares of Alibaba Group in a report on Friday, November 15th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $116.93.

Alibaba Group Stock Up 8.3 %

Shares of BABA stock opened at $136.26 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 1.37 and a current ratio of 1.37. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $94.31 and its 200-day moving average is $92.42. The stock has a market cap of $323.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.64, a PEG ratio of 0.54 and a beta of 0.31. Alibaba Group has a 52-week low of $68.36 and a 52-week high of $144.51.

Alibaba Group (NYSE:BABA) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The specialty retailer reported $2.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.84 by ($0.07). Alibaba Group had a net margin of 8.98% and a return on equity of 12.28%. Sell-side analysts predict that Alibaba Group will post 7.86 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Alibaba Group by 21.1% during the 4th quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 155,440 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $13,180,000 after acquiring an additional 27,088 shares in the last quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC boosted its position in shares of Alibaba Group by 131.2% during the 4th quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 74,807 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $6,343,000 after acquiring an additional 42,446 shares in the last quarter. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV boosted its position in shares of Alibaba Group by 63.9% during the 3rd quarter. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV now owns 28,716 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $3,047,000 after acquiring an additional 11,192 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its position in shares of Alibaba Group by 7,734.1% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 269,805 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $28,632,000 after acquiring an additional 266,361 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Aspex Management HK Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Alibaba Group during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $115,995,000. 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.