Alibaba Group (NYSE:BABA) Sees Strong Trading Volume

Alibaba Group Holding Limited (NYSE:BABA) shares saw strong trading volume on Wednesday . 13,948,989 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 19% from the previous session’s volume of 17,273,586 shares.The stock last traded at $115.46 and had previously closed at $112.74.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BABA has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “equal weight” rating and set a $90.00 price target on shares of Alibaba Group in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Loop Capital restated a “buy” rating and set a $115.00 target price on shares of Alibaba Group in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $116.00 price target on shares of Alibaba Group in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $118.00 price target on shares of Alibaba Group in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Finally, Susquehanna reduced their price target on shares of Alibaba Group from $135.00 to $130.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 19th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $107.61.

Alibaba Group Stock Up 0.3 %

The stock has a market cap of $287.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.34, a PEG ratio of 0.46 and a beta of 0.33. The company has a quick ratio of 1.41, a current ratio of 1.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $84.31 and a 200-day simple moving average of $79.02.

Alibaba Group (NYSE:BABA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 15th. The specialty retailer reported $16.44 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.87 by $14.57. Alibaba Group had a return on equity of 12.08% and a net margin of 7.31%. The company had revenue of $243.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $248.32 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.47 earnings per share. Alibaba Group’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Alibaba Group Holding Limited will post 7.93 EPS for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Alibaba Group

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of BABA. Bank of Nova Scotia grew its holdings in Alibaba Group by 768.7% during the fourth quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 36,746 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $2,848,000 after buying an additional 32,516 shares in the last quarter. Campbell & CO Investment Adviser LLC raised its stake in Alibaba Group by 44.1% during the fourth quarter. Campbell & CO Investment Adviser LLC now owns 16,020 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $1,242,000 after buying an additional 4,902 shares during the last quarter. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp bought a new stake in shares of Alibaba Group in the fourth quarter worth $351,000. Belpointe Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Alibaba Group in the fourth quarter worth $294,000. Finally, CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Alibaba Group by 101.8% in the fourth quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 912,364 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $70,717,000 after acquiring an additional 460,174 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 13.47% of the company’s stock.

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.