Alibaba Group (NYSE:BABA) Trading 1.4% Higher Following Analyst Upgrade

Alibaba Group Holding Limited (NYSE:BABA) shot up 1.4% during mid-day trading on Wednesday after Barclays raised their price target on the stock from $107.00 to $137.00. Barclays currently has an overweight rating on the stock. Alibaba Group traded as high as $103.60 and last traded at $103.30. 4,610,551 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 74% from the average session volume of 17,870,131 shares. The stock had previously closed at $101.84.

Other analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. Macquarie raised shares of Alibaba Group from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $145.00 price objective for the company in a report on Monday, October 7th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and set a $90.00 price objective on shares of Alibaba Group in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Benchmark reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $118.00 price target on shares of Alibaba Group in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on shares of Alibaba Group from $85.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price target on shares of Alibaba Group from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Alibaba Group has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $112.63.

Institutional Trading of Alibaba Group

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Primecap Management Co. CA boosted its holdings in shares of Alibaba Group by 5.2% during the second quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 21,870,987 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $1,574,711,000 after purchasing an additional 1,074,175 shares during the period. ARGA Investment Management LP raised its stake in Alibaba Group by 39.2% in the first quarter. ARGA Investment Management LP now owns 3,582,005 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $259,194,000 after buying an additional 1,009,397 shares in the last quarter. Discerene Group LP raised its stake in Alibaba Group by 21.2% in the first quarter. Discerene Group LP now owns 3,021,375 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $218,627,000 after buying an additional 529,237 shares in the last quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB raised its stake in Alibaba Group by 6.9% in the third quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 2,789,883 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $296,062,000 after buying an additional 178,999 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in Alibaba Group by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,181,498 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $169,088,000 after buying an additional 25,054 shares in the last quarter. 13.47% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Alibaba Group Trading Up 0.3 %

The company has a market capitalization of $259.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.82, a P/E/G ratio of 0.55 and a beta of 0.35. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $91.46 and its 200-day moving average is $81.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a current ratio of 1.41 and a quick ratio of 1.41.

Alibaba Group (NYSE:BABA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 15th. The specialty retailer reported $16.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.87 by $14.57. Alibaba Group had a net margin of 7.31% and a return on equity of 12.08%. The company had revenue of $243.24 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $248.32 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.47 earnings per share. Alibaba Group’s revenue was up 3.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Alibaba Group Holding Limited will post 7.93 earnings per share for the current year.

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.