Alibaba Group (NYSE:BABA) Trading 4.8% Higher

Shares of Alibaba Group Holding Limited (NYSE:BABA) traded up 4.8% during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $79.21 and last traded at $79.17. 10,417,155 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 41% from the average session volume of 17,650,664 shares. The stock had previously closed at $75.51.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently commented on the stock. Robert W. Baird reduced their price target on shares of Alibaba Group from $95.00 to $90.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 19th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price target on shares of Alibaba Group from $121.00 to $105.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 8th. Mizuho reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $95.00 price target on shares of Alibaba Group in a research report on Wednesday, March 27th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “equal weight” rating and issued a $85.00 price objective on shares of Alibaba Group in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Alibaba Group from $105.00 to $100.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $112.91.

Alibaba Group Stock Performance

The company has a current ratio of 1.80, a quick ratio of 1.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The firm has a market capitalization of $206.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.00 and a beta of 0.44. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $73.36 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $75.25.

Alibaba Group (NYSE:BABA) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 7th. The specialty retailer reported $18.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $19.12 by ($0.15). The firm had revenue of $260.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $260.26 billion. Alibaba Group had a net margin of 10.75% and a return on equity of 12.65%. Alibaba Group’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.44 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Alibaba Group Holding Limited will post 7.54 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Alibaba Group

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Savant Capital LLC grew its position in Alibaba Group by 2.7% in the third quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 4,756 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $413,000 after acquiring an additional 127 shares in the last quarter. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. grew its position in Alibaba Group by 2.1% in the third quarter. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 6,727 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $584,000 after acquiring an additional 136 shares in the last quarter. Clearstead Advisors LLC grew its position in Alibaba Group by 32.9% in the third quarter. Clearstead Advisors LLC now owns 573 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $50,000 after acquiring an additional 142 shares in the last quarter. Bogart Wealth LLC grew its position in Alibaba Group by 16.7% in the first quarter. Bogart Wealth LLC now owns 990 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $72,000 after acquiring an additional 142 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Legacy Advisors LLC grew its position in Alibaba Group by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Legacy Advisors LLC now owns 10,658 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $826,000 after acquiring an additional 145 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.