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

Alibaba Group Holding Limited (NYSE:BABA) shares shot up 0.3% during mid-day 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 mid-day 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 brokerages have also commented on BABA. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Alibaba Group from $106.00 to $124.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. StockNews.com lowered Alibaba Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, December 14th. Benchmark reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $118.00 target price on shares of Alibaba Group in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on Alibaba Group from $88.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Mizuho lifted their price objective 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. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $115.13.

Institutional Trading of Alibaba Group

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL bought a new stake in shares of Alibaba Group in the second quarter worth $27,000. Concord Wealth Partners grew its position in shares of Alibaba Group by 155.0% in the 3rd quarter. Concord Wealth Partners now owns 255 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 155 shares during the last quarter. Highline Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Alibaba Group in the third quarter valued at about $36,000. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Alibaba Group during the second quarter worth about $38,000. Finally, Assetmark Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Alibaba Group by 225.4% in the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 397 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 275 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 13.47% of the company’s stock.

Alibaba Group Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 1.37 and a quick ratio of 1.37. The company has a fifty day moving average of $87.23 and a 200 day moving average of $87.60. The firm has a market capitalization of $191.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.34, a PEG ratio of 0.44 and a beta of 0.30.

Alibaba Group (NYSE:BABA) last released its earnings results on Friday, November 15th. The specialty retailer reported $15.06 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.87 by $13.19. The business 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 firm’s revenue was up 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.82 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Alibaba Group Holding Limited will post 8.44 earnings per share for the current year.

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.