Park Avenue Securities LLC Increases Stock Position in Alibaba Group Holding Limited (NYSE:BABA)

Park Avenue Securities LLC increased its position in Alibaba Group Holding Limited (NYSE:BABA) by 31.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 18,465 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,397 shares during the period. Park Avenue Securities LLC’s holdings in Alibaba Group were worth $1,566,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL purchased a new stake in Alibaba Group during the 2nd quarter valued at $27,000. Concord Wealth Partners raised its stake in Alibaba Group by 155.0% during the 3rd quarter. Concord Wealth Partners now owns 255 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 155 shares during the last quarter. Highline Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Alibaba Group during the 3rd quarter valued at $36,000. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. purchased a new stake in Alibaba Group during the 2nd quarter valued at $38,000. Finally, Assetmark Inc. raised its stake in Alibaba Group by 225.4% during the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 397 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 275 shares during the last quarter. 13.47% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on BABA shares. 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 research report on Monday, October 7th. Mizuho boosted their price objective on shares of Alibaba Group from $92.00 to $113.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Benchmark reissued a “buy” rating and set a $118.00 price objective on shares of Alibaba Group in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Alibaba Group from $133.00 to $138.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Alibaba Group from $106.00 to $124.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $115.13.

Alibaba Group Price Performance

Shares of BABA opened at $85.16 on Friday. Alibaba Group Holding Limited has a fifty-two week low of $66.63 and a fifty-two week high of $117.82. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $86.06 and its 200 day moving average price is $87.68. The company has a market cap of $202.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.27, a PEG ratio of 0.40 and a beta of 0.30. The company has a quick ratio of 1.37, a current ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16.

Alibaba Group (NYSE:BABA) last issued 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 net margin of 8.98% and a return on equity of 12.28%. The business had revenue of $236.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $239.45 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.82 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Alibaba Group Holding Limited will post 8.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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.