Alibaba Group Holding Limited (NYSE:BABA) Receives Average Recommendation of “Buy” from Analysts

Shares of Alibaba Group Holding Limited (NYSE:BABA) have been given a consensus rating of “Buy” by the fifteen ratings firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Fourteen research analysts have rated the stock with a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $148.14.

A number of analysts have recently commented on BABA shares. Bank of America upped their price target on Alibaba Group from $117.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Alibaba Group from $125.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Mizuho lifted their price target on shares of Alibaba Group from $140.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Alibaba Group from $130.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on Alibaba Group from $110.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Alibaba Group

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in BABA. Appaloosa LP boosted its holdings in Alibaba Group by 18.4% during the fourth quarter. Appaloosa LP now owns 11,843,158 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $1,004,181,000 after purchasing an additional 1,843,158 shares during the last quarter. Hhlr Advisors LTD. boosted its stake in shares of Alibaba Group by 64.1% during the 3rd quarter. Hhlr Advisors LTD. now owns 8,827,600 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $936,785,000 after buying an additional 3,448,152 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Alibaba Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $585,479,000. Bank of America Corp DE increased its position in shares of Alibaba Group by 7.0% in the fourth quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 6,676,773 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $566,124,000 after acquiring an additional 438,537 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Alibaba Group by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 5,093,828 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $431,906,000 after acquiring an additional 78,757 shares in the last quarter. 13.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Alibaba Group Price Performance

Shares of BABA stock opened at $132.49 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $121.60 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $102.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a quick ratio of 1.48 and a current ratio of 1.48. Alibaba Group has a 52-week low of $68.36 and a 52-week high of $148.43. The stock has a market cap of $314.80 billion, a PE ratio of 19.15, a PEG ratio of 0.61 and a beta of 0.28.

Alibaba Group (NYSE:BABA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The specialty retailer reported $2.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.84 by ($0.07). The company had revenue of $38.38 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $38.19 billion. Alibaba Group had a return on equity of 12.89% and a net margin of 12.29%. As a group, analysts forecast that Alibaba Group will post 7.86 EPS for the current year.

Alibaba Group Company 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.