Alibaba Group (NYSE:BABA) Shares Climb 5% – Here’s What Happened

Alibaba Group Holding Limited (NYSE:BABA)’s stock price was up 5% during trading on Wednesday. The stock traded as high as $107.70 and last traded at $105.3490. 14,587,033 shares were traded during mid-day trading, an increase of 28% from the average daily volume of 11,383,489 shares. The stock had previously closed at $100.36.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have weighed in on BABA. Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Alibaba Group in a research note on Thursday, August 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Alibaba Group from $210.00 to $200.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 12th. Piper Sandler lowered Alibaba Group to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 8th. Citigroup upped their price objective on Alibaba Group from $190.00 to $193.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 8th. Finally, HSBC set a $170.00 target price on Alibaba Group in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $182.89.

Alibaba Group Stock Up 1.1%

The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $108.28 and its 200-day simple moving average is $125.04. The company has a current ratio of 1.36, a quick ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. The stock has a market capitalization of $271.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 0.44.

Alibaba Group (NYSE:BABA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, August 14th. The specialty retailer reported $1.26 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.94 by ($0.68). The business had revenue of $39.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $39.52 billion. Alibaba Group had a return on equity of 4.79% and a net margin of 7.00%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $14.75 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Alibaba Group Holding Limited will post 5.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other Alibaba Group news, insider Fang Jiang sold 885,272 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $13.55, for a total transaction of $11,995,435.60. Following the transaction, the insider owned 4,679,097 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $63,401,764.35. The trade was a 15.91% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Yongming Wu acquired 350,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 24th. The shares were bought at an average price of $14.24 per share, for a total transaction of $4,984,000.00. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer owned 1,364,418 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,429,312.32. This represents a 34.50% increase in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 999,971 shares of company stock valued at $13,563,304. Corporate insiders own 12.50% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Alibaba Group

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Continuum Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Alibaba Group during the second quarter valued at about $28,000. GK Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Alibaba Group in the third quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Latitude Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Alibaba Group in the third quarter valued at approximately $43,000. Global Assets Advisory LLC acquired a new position in shares of Alibaba Group in the first quarter valued at approximately $56,000. Finally, Silver Grove Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in Alibaba Group by 107.4% in the 3rd quarter. Silver Grove Financial Group Inc. now owns 618 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $66,000 after buying an additional 320 shares during the last quarter. 13.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Alibaba Group Company Profile

Alibaba Group Holding Limited is a technology and commerce company founded in 1999 and headquartered in Hangzhou, China. It operates digital platforms that connect consumers, merchants, businesses and other participants in commerce.

Its businesses include China-focused marketplaces such as Taobao and Tmall, international platforms including AliExpress and Alibaba.com, and Alibaba Cloud, which provides cloud computing and related technology services. The group also has operations in areas such as logistics, local services and digital media.

Alibaba serves customers and businesses in China and across international markets.