Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC Grows Position in Alibaba Group Holding Limited (NYSE:BABA)

Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC raised its position in Alibaba Group Holding Limited (NYSE:BABA) by 15.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 49,137 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,492 shares during the quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC’s holdings in Alibaba Group were worth $4,166,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of BABA. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Alibaba Group in the 4th quarter worth about $31,000. Sierra Ocean LLC purchased a new position in shares of Alibaba Group in the 4th quarter worth about $32,000. Assetmark Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Alibaba Group by 225.4% in the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 397 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 275 shares during the period. Kieckhefer Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Alibaba Group in the 4th quarter worth about $55,000. Finally, Golden State Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Alibaba Group in the 4th quarter worth about $60,000. 13.47% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Barclays increased their target price on Alibaba Group from $130.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. StockNews.com upgraded Alibaba Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded Alibaba Group from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their target price for the company from $104.00 to $165.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on Alibaba Group from $110.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, Citigroup increased their target price on Alibaba Group from $133.00 to $138.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Fifteen analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $144.07.

Alibaba Group Price Performance

Shares of BABA opened at $139.80 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $332.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.20, a PEG ratio of 0.61 and a beta of 0.31. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $104.35 and a 200-day moving average of $96.30. The company has a current ratio of 1.48, a quick ratio of 1.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19. Alibaba Group Holding Limited has a 52 week low of $68.36 and a 52 week high of $145.30.

Alibaba Group (NYSE:BABA) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The specialty retailer reported $2.77 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.84 by ($0.07). The firm had revenue of $38.38 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $38.19 billion. Alibaba Group had a return on equity of 12.89% and a net margin of 12.29%. As a group, analysts forecast that Alibaba Group Holding Limited will post 7.86 EPS for the current 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.