Alibaba Group (NYSE:BABA) Shares Up 1.6% – Time to Buy?

Alibaba Group Holding Limited (NYSE:BABA) shares shot up 1.6% during mid-day trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $115.73 and last traded at $114.62. 12,208,681 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 30% from the average session volume of 17,516,879 shares. The stock had previously closed at $112.84.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have issued reports on BABA. Loop Capital reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $115.00 price objective on shares of Alibaba Group in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Susquehanna cut their price objective on shares of Alibaba Group from $135.00 to $130.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 19th. Truist Financial cut their price objective on shares of Alibaba Group from $110.00 to $100.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 16th. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on shares of Alibaba Group from $85.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, August 16th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Alibaba Group from $100.00 to $108.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 16th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Alibaba Group currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $107.61.

Alibaba Group Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $289.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.72, a P/E/G ratio of 0.46 and a beta of 0.33. The business has a 50-day moving average of $85.84 and a 200-day moving average of $79.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a current ratio of 1.41 and a quick ratio of 1.41.

Alibaba Group (NYSE:BABA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 15th. The specialty retailer reported $16.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.87 by $14.57. The company had revenue of $243.24 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $248.32 billion. Alibaba Group had a return on equity of 12.08% and a net margin of 7.31%. Alibaba Group’s revenue was up 3.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.47 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Alibaba Group Holding Limited will post 7.93 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Alibaba Group

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of BABA. Fiduciary Alliance LLC lifted its position in shares of Alibaba Group by 154.1% during the first quarter. Fiduciary Alliance LLC now owns 55,229 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $4,052,000 after purchasing an additional 33,490 shares during the last quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co lifted its position in shares of Alibaba Group by 462.5% during the first quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 169,220 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $12,275,000 after purchasing an additional 139,134 shares during the last quarter. SRN Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Alibaba Group by 76.7% during the first quarter. SRN Advisors LLC now owns 22,259 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $1,611,000 after purchasing an additional 9,663 shares during the last quarter. ORG Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Alibaba Group by 52,685.7% during the first quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 11,085 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $813,000 after purchasing an additional 11,064 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Granite Bay Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Alibaba Group during the second quarter worth $6,185,000. 13.47% of the stock is currently 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.