Alibaba Group (NYSE:BABA) Price Target Raised to $170.00

Alibaba Group (NYSE:BABA) had its target price raised by Mizuho from $140.00 to $170.00 in a report issued on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an outperform rating on the specialty retailer’s stock.

BABA has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Alibaba Group from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $100.00 to $180.00 in a research note on Monday, February 24th. Bank of America lifted their price objective on Alibaba Group from $117.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Barclays increased their target price on Alibaba Group from $130.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Arete Research raised Alibaba Group to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Alibaba Group from $125.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $148.14.

Alibaba Group Stock Down 2.3 %

Shares of NYSE:BABA opened at $132.49 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $121.60 and a 200 day moving average of $102.45. Alibaba Group has a 52-week low of $68.36 and a 52-week high of $148.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a quick ratio of 1.48 and a current ratio of 1.48. The firm has a market capitalization of $314.80 billion, a PE ratio of 19.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.61 and a beta of 0.28.

Alibaba Group (NYSE:BABA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The specialty retailer reported $2.77 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.84 by ($0.07). The firm had revenue of $38.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $38.19 billion. Alibaba Group had a net margin of 12.29% and a return on equity of 12.89%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Alibaba Group will post 7.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Alibaba Group

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Appaloosa LP lifted its holdings in Alibaba Group by 18.4% in the fourth quarter. Appaloosa LP now owns 11,843,158 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $1,004,181,000 after buying an additional 1,843,158 shares during the period. Hhlr Advisors LTD. lifted its stake in shares of Alibaba Group by 64.1% in the 3rd quarter. Hhlr Advisors LTD. now owns 8,827,600 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $936,785,000 after purchasing an additional 3,448,152 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Alibaba Group during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $585,479,000. Bank of America Corp DE grew its stake in Alibaba Group by 7.0% in the fourth quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 6,676,773 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $566,124,000 after purchasing an additional 438,537 shares during the period. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Alibaba Group by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 5,093,828 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $431,906,000 after purchasing an additional 78,757 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 13.47% of the company’s stock.

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.