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

Alibaba Group Holding Limited (NYSE:BABA) has been given an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the fifteen brokerages that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and twelve have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $112.49.

BABA has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Susquehanna cut their price target on shares of Alibaba Group from $150.00 to $135.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 8th. Macquarie cut Alibaba Group from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $88.50 to $85.40 in a research report on Thursday, February 8th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “equal weight” rating and issued a $85.00 price objective on shares of Alibaba Group in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on Alibaba Group from $105.00 to $100.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. Finally, Barclays cut their price target on shares of Alibaba Group from $138.00 to $109.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 12th.

Alibaba Group Stock Down 2.7 %

Shares of BABA stock opened at $79.38 on Wednesday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $73.60 and its 200 day moving average price is $75.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 1.80 and a quick ratio of 1.80. Alibaba Group has a 1-year low of $66.63 and a 1-year high of $102.50. The company has a market cap of $201.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.65 and a beta of 0.44.

Alibaba Group (NYSE:BABA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 7th. The specialty retailer reported $18.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $19.12 by ($0.15). The company had revenue of $260.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $260.26 billion. Alibaba Group had a net margin of 10.75% and a return on equity of 12.65%. The business’s revenue was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.44 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Alibaba Group will post 7.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Alibaba Group

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Morgan Stanley raised its position in shares of Alibaba Group by 13.8% during the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 11,610,078 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $1,007,058,000 after purchasing an additional 1,406,491 shares during the last quarter. Sanders Capital LLC lifted its position in shares of Alibaba Group by 322.7% in the third quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 15,029,238 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $1,303,636,000 after acquiring an additional 11,473,618 shares in the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Alibaba Group by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 992,784 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $76,951,000 after acquiring an additional 21,228 shares during the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Alibaba Group by 299.9% during the fourth quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 82,888 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $6,428,000 after purchasing an additional 62,163 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Certuity LLC raised its stake in Alibaba Group by 122.2% in the 3rd quarter. Certuity LLC now owns 113,704 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $9,863,000 after purchasing an additional 62,543 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.