Alibaba Group (NYSE:BABA) Downgraded to “Buy” Rating by StockNews.com

Alibaba Group (NYSE:BABA) was downgraded by analysts at StockNews.com from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report issued on Saturday.

A number of other brokerages have also recently commented on BABA. Benchmark reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $118.00 price target on shares of Alibaba Group in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their target price on Alibaba Group from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Mizuho increased their price objective on Alibaba Group from $92.00 to $113.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on shares of Alibaba Group from $88.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of Alibaba Group from $106.00 to $124.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $114.07.

Alibaba Group Stock Performance

Shares of BABA stock opened at $87.82 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 1.37 and a current ratio of 1.37. Alibaba Group has a fifty-two week low of $66.63 and a fifty-two week high of $117.82. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $95.36 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $86.25. The company has a market capitalization of $209.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.81, a PEG ratio of 0.44 and a beta of 0.30.

Alibaba Group (NYSE:BABA) last posted its earnings results on Friday, November 15th. The specialty retailer reported $15.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.87 by $13.19. Alibaba Group had a return on equity of 12.28% and a net margin of 8.98%. The firm had revenue of $236.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $239.45 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.82 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Alibaba Group will post 8.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Alibaba Group

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its stake in Alibaba Group by 1,392.6% during the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 6,125,542 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $650,043,000 after buying an additional 5,715,155 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its holdings in Alibaba Group by 3,180.1% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 3,857,760 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $409,385,000 after buying an additional 3,740,150 shares during the period. Hhlr Advisors LTD. boosted its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 3,448,152 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its position in Alibaba Group by 454.2% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,611,571 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $383,260,000 after purchasing an additional 2,959,954 shares during the period. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its position in Alibaba Group by 9,205.2% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,697,358 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $1,801,240,000 after purchasing an additional 1,679,117 shares during the period. Institutional investors 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.