Alibaba Group (NYSE:BABA) Stock Price Up 4.8% – What’s Next?

Alibaba Group Holding Limited (NYSE:BABA)’s share price shot up 4.8% during trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $103.03 and last traded at $103.31. 11,602,426 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 42% from the average session volume of 19,993,895 shares. The stock had previously closed at $98.61.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently commented on BABA shares. Macquarie upgraded shares of Alibaba Group from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $145.00 price target on the stock in a report on Monday, October 7th. Barclays dropped their target price on Alibaba Group from $137.00 to $130.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Bank of America raised their price target on Alibaba Group from $106.00 to $124.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Benchmark restated a “buy” rating and issued a $118.00 price objective on shares of Alibaba Group in a report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Alibaba Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, December 14th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $115.13.

Alibaba Group Trading Up 4.0 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 1.37 and a current ratio of 1.37. The company has a market capitalization of $243.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.80, a P/E/G ratio of 0.42 and a beta of 0.31. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $86.84 and a 200 day simple moving average of $89.07.

Alibaba Group (NYSE:BABA) last released its earnings results on Friday, November 15th. The specialty retailer reported $15.06 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.87 by $13.19. The business had revenue of $236.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $239.45 billion. Alibaba Group had a net margin of 8.98% and a return on equity of 12.28%. The firm’s revenue was up 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.82 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Alibaba Group Holding Limited will post 7.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Alibaba Group

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BABA. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in Alibaba Group by 96.0% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 172,748 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $14,647,000 after acquiring an additional 84,604 shares in the last quarter. Sierra Capital LLC boosted its position in Alibaba Group by 6.8% in the 4th quarter. Sierra Capital LLC now owns 5,967 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $506,000 after buying an additional 380 shares during the last quarter. Quartz Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Alibaba Group by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Quartz Partners LLC now owns 10,648 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $903,000 after buying an additional 240 shares during the period. Rothschild Investment LLC raised its position in shares of Alibaba Group by 1,504.7% during the fourth quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC now owns 1,717 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $146,000 after acquiring an additional 1,610 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Waverton Investment Management Ltd bought a new position in Alibaba Group in the fourth quarter valued at about $3,406,000. 13.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.