Alibaba Group (NYSE:BABA) Stock Price Up 0.8% – Still a Buy?

Alibaba Group Holding Limited (NYSE:BABA)’s stock price shot up 0.8% on Monday . The company traded as high as $87.36 and last traded at $86.22. 7,186,703 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 7% from the average session volume of 7,763,135 shares. The stock had previously closed at $85.54.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently issued reports on BABA. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on shares of Alibaba Group from $88.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Macquarie upgraded Alibaba Group from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $145.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Monday, October 7th. Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $118.00 price objective on shares of Alibaba Group in a research report on Friday, November 15th. StockNews.com downgraded Alibaba Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, December 14th. Finally, Bank of America lifted their price target on Alibaba Group from $106.00 to $124.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $114.07.

Alibaba Group Trading Down 0.9 %

The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $88.51 and its 200-day simple moving average is $87.36. The company has a quick ratio of 1.37, a current ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The company has a market capitalization of $199.55 billion, a PE ratio of 16.99, a P/E/G ratio of 0.44 and a beta of 0.30.

Alibaba Group (NYSE:BABA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, November 15th. The specialty retailer reported $15.06 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.87 by $13.19. Alibaba Group had a return on equity of 12.28% and a net margin of 8.98%. The company had revenue of $236.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $239.45 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.82 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Alibaba Group Holding Limited will post 8.44 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Alibaba Group

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. TRUE Private Wealth Advisors boosted its holdings in Alibaba Group by 3.7% in the third quarter. TRUE Private Wealth Advisors now owns 3,123 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $331,000 after purchasing an additional 112 shares during the last quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Alibaba Group by 6.0% in the 3rd quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,152 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $228,000 after purchasing an additional 121 shares in the last quarter. ICA Group Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Alibaba Group by 14.6% during the 2nd quarter. ICA Group Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,004 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $72,000 after buying an additional 128 shares during the last quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of Alibaba Group by 4.3% during the third quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,400 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $361,000 after buying an additional 139 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. increased its stake in shares of Alibaba Group by 3.0% in the third quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 4,857 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $515,000 after buying an additional 143 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 13.47% of the company’s stock.

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.