Alibaba Group (NYSE:BABA) Trading Down 3.1% – Time to Sell?

Alibaba Group Holding Limited (NYSE:BABA)’s stock price was down 3.1% during mid-day trading on Friday . The company traded as low as $81.04 and last traded at $81.07. Approximately 5,941,980 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 43% from the average daily volume of 10,421,349 shares. The stock had previously closed at $83.69.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on shares of Alibaba Group from $88.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $118.00 price target on shares of Alibaba Group in a research note on Friday, November 15th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Alibaba Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, December 14th. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Alibaba Group from $133.00 to $138.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Alibaba Group from $106.00 to $124.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $115.13.

Alibaba Group Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $191.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.33, a PEG ratio of 0.44 and a beta of 0.30. 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 firm has a fifty day moving average price of $87.59 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $87.44.

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Acadian Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Alibaba Group by 382.4% in the 2nd quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 20,865 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $1,502,000 after acquiring an additional 16,540 shares in the last quarter. Prudential PLC bought a new stake in shares of Alibaba Group during the 2nd quarter valued at $309,000. Choreo LLC lifted its stake in shares of Alibaba Group by 48.1% during the 2nd quarter. Choreo LLC now owns 5,789 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $418,000 after buying an additional 1,880 shares in the last quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D boosted its holdings in Alibaba Group by 3.7% in the 2nd quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D now owns 65,439 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $4,712,000 after buying an additional 2,309 shares during the period. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. raised its holdings in Alibaba Group by 0.7% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,551,134 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $111,682,000 after acquiring an additional 11,487 shares during the period. 13.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.