Alibaba Group (NYSE:BABA) Price Target Raised to $170.00 at Mizuho

Alibaba Group (NYSE:BABA) had its price objective raised by Mizuho from $140.00 to $170.00 in a report issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an outperform rating on the specialty retailer’s stock.

A number of other brokerages have also commented on BABA. Benchmark lifted their price target on Alibaba Group from $118.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Arete Research upgraded Alibaba Group to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Alibaba Group from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $100.00 to $180.00 in a report on Monday, February 24th. Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of Alibaba Group from $117.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Alibaba Group from $125.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $148.14.

Alibaba Group Price Performance

BABA opened at $132.49 on Friday. Alibaba Group has a 1 year low of $68.36 and a 1 year high of $148.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a current ratio of 1.48 and a quick ratio of 1.48. The company has a market capitalization of $314.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.15, a P/E/G ratio of 0.61 and a beta of 0.28. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $121.60 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $102.45.

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Appaloosa LP grew its stake in Alibaba Group by 18.4% during the fourth quarter. Appaloosa LP now owns 11,843,158 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $1,004,181,000 after acquiring an additional 1,843,158 shares in the last quarter. Hhlr Advisors LTD. grew its position 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 valued at $936,785,000 after purchasing an additional 3,448,152 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Alibaba Group in the fourth quarter worth $585,479,000. Bank of America Corp DE raised 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 worth $566,124,000 after buying an additional 438,537 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its stake 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 valued at $431,906,000 after buying an additional 78,757 shares during the period. 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.