Alibaba Group Holding Limited (NYSE:BABA) Receives Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Alibaba Group Holding Limited (NYSE:BABA) has been assigned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the fifteen ratings firms that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and twelve have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $112.91.

BABA has been the topic of several recent research reports. Susquehanna reduced their price objective on Alibaba Group from $150.00 to $135.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 8th. Citigroup reduced their price objective on Alibaba Group from $126.00 to $124.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Alibaba Group from $105.00 to $100.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Macquarie lowered Alibaba Group from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $88.50 to $85.40 in a research report on Thursday, February 8th. Finally, Barclays reduced their price target on Alibaba Group from $138.00 to $109.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 12th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Alibaba Group

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Morgan Stanley grew its position in shares of Alibaba Group by 13.8% in the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 11,610,078 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $1,007,058,000 after buying an additional 1,406,491 shares during the last quarter. Sanders Capital LLC grew its position in shares of Alibaba Group by 322.7% in the 3rd quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 15,029,238 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $1,303,636,000 after buying an additional 11,473,618 shares during the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Alibaba Group by 299.9% in the 4th quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 82,888 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $6,428,000 after buying an additional 62,163 shares during the last quarter. Fiduciary Alliance LLC boosted its position in shares of Alibaba Group by 27.1% during the third quarter. Fiduciary Alliance LLC now owns 14,275 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $1,238,000 after purchasing an additional 3,040 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Certuity LLC boosted its position in shares of Alibaba Group by 122.2% during the third quarter. Certuity LLC now owns 113,704 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $9,863,000 after purchasing an additional 62,543 shares in the last quarter. 13.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Alibaba Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE BABA opened at $69.07 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $175.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.74 and a beta of 0.46. The company has a quick ratio of 1.80, a current ratio of 1.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $73.14 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $75.88. Alibaba Group has a twelve month low of $66.63 and a twelve month high of $102.50.

Alibaba Group (NYSE:BABA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 7th. The specialty retailer reported $18.97 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $19.12 by ($0.15). The firm had revenue of $260.35 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.44 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Alibaba Group will post 7.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.