Alibaba Group (NYSE:BABA) Stock Price Up 0.3% Following Analyst Upgrade

Alibaba Group Holding Limited (NYSE:BABA)’s share price traded up 0.3% during trading on Monday after Citigroup raised their price target on the stock from $133.00 to $138.00. Citigroup currently has a buy rating on the stock. Alibaba Group traded as high as $81.08 and last traded at $80.80. 3,626,866 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 66% from the average session volume of 10,821,382 shares. The stock had previously closed at $80.53.

A number of other research firms have also recently weighed in on BABA. StockNews.com cut shares of Alibaba Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, December 14th. Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $118.00 target price on shares of Alibaba Group in a report on Friday, November 15th. Macquarie raised Alibaba Group from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $145.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Barclays lowered their price target on Alibaba Group from $137.00 to $130.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, Bank of America lifted their price objective on Alibaba Group from $106.00 to $124.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $115.13.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Alibaba Group

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Choreo LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Alibaba Group by 48.1% during the second quarter. Choreo LLC now owns 5,789 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $418,000 after purchasing an additional 1,880 shares during the last quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D boosted its stake in Alibaba Group by 3.7% in the 2nd quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D now owns 65,439 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $4,712,000 after buying an additional 2,309 shares during the last quarter. Thoroughbred Financial Services LLC grew its holdings in Alibaba Group by 25.2% in the 2nd quarter. Thoroughbred Financial Services LLC now owns 3,696 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $266,000 after buying an additional 744 shares during the period. Wealthspire Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Alibaba Group by 6.1% during the 2nd quarter. Wealthspire Advisors LLC now owns 2,971 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $214,000 after acquiring an additional 171 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Alibaba Group by 38.5% during the 2nd quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 44,148 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $3,179,000 after acquiring an additional 12,264 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 13.47% of the company’s stock.

Alibaba Group Price Performance

The company’s 50-day moving average is $86.88 and its 200-day moving average is $87.66. The firm has a market capitalization of $194.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.57, a PEG ratio of 0.44 and a beta of 0.30. 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 announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, November 15th. The specialty retailer reported $15.06 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.87 by $13.19. The company had revenue of $236.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $239.45 billion. Alibaba Group had a net margin of 8.98% and a return on equity of 12.28%. Alibaba Group’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.82 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Alibaba Group Holding Limited will post 8.44 earnings per share for the current year.

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.