Artisan Partners Limited Partnership Sells 21,412 Shares of Alibaba Group Holding Limited (NYSE:BABA)

Artisan Partners Limited Partnership lessened its stake in shares of Alibaba Group Holding Limited (NYSE:BABA) by 16.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 112,821 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 21,412 shares during the period. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership’s holdings in Alibaba Group were worth $9,566,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans bought a new stake in Alibaba Group during the third quarter worth about $321,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company bought a new stake in shares of Alibaba Group during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $287,000. FMR LLC boosted its position in shares of Alibaba Group by 454.2% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,611,571 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $383,260,000 after acquiring an additional 2,959,954 shares in the last quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC bought a new position in Alibaba Group in the third quarter valued at approximately $518,000. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank raised its position in Alibaba Group by 2.8% during the third quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 14,347 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $1,523,000 after purchasing an additional 390 shares in the last quarter. 13.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. StockNews.com lowered Alibaba Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Bank of America lifted their target price on Alibaba Group from $117.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on Alibaba Group from $110.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of Alibaba Group from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price target for the company from $104.00 to $165.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Alibaba Group from $125.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $148.14.

Alibaba Group Trading Down 2.3 %

Shares of BABA stock opened at $132.49 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $121.60 and a 200-day moving average of $102.45. The company has a current ratio of 1.48, a quick ratio of 1.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19. The stock has a market cap of $314.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.15, a PEG ratio of 0.61 and a beta of 0.28. Alibaba Group Holding Limited has a 1-year low of $68.36 and a 1-year high of $148.43.

Alibaba Group (NYSE:BABA) last released its earnings results 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 analyst estimates of $38.19 billion. Alibaba Group had a net margin of 12.29% and a return on equity of 12.89%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Alibaba Group Holding Limited will post 7.86 earnings per share 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.