Principal Financial Group Inc. Decreases Stock Position in Alibaba Group Holding Limited $BABA

Principal Financial Group Inc. trimmed its position in shares of Alibaba Group Holding Limited (NYSE:BABA) by 29.4% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 11,025 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 4,587 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Alibaba Group were worth $1,970,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Brighton Jones LLC grew its stake in shares of Alibaba Group by 40.4% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 3,411 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $289,000 after acquiring an additional 981 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Alibaba Group in the first quarter valued at about $254,000. CWM LLC grew its stake in Alibaba Group by 0.8% during the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 12,029 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $1,364,000 after purchasing an additional 92 shares in the last quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. grew its stake in Alibaba Group by 5.0% during the 2nd quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 2,642 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $300,000 after purchasing an additional 127 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. increased its holdings in Alibaba Group by 63.7% during the 2nd quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. now owns 10,063 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $1,141,000 after purchasing an additional 3,917 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 13.47% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Macquarie Infrastructure reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Alibaba Group in a research note on Tuesday, November 25th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Alibaba Group from $190.00 to $195.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 26th. Arete Research raised shares of Alibaba Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $190.00 price objective for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Rosenblatt Securities set a $195.00 target price on shares of Alibaba Group in a research report on Wednesday, November 26th. Finally, Nomura increased their price target on shares of Alibaba Group from $193.00 to $237.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 26th. Eighteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Alibaba Group has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $195.17.

Alibaba Group Trading Down 0.2%

NYSE BABA opened at $155.45 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a quick ratio of 1.46 and a current ratio of 1.46. Alibaba Group Holding Limited has a one year low of $95.73 and a one year high of $192.67. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $159.11 and a 200-day simple moving average of $155.99. The firm has a market capitalization of $371.12 billion, a PE ratio of 21.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.41 and a beta of 0.39.

Trending Headlines about Alibaba Group

Here are the key news stories impacting Alibaba Group this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Alibaba launched Qwen‑3.5, a multimodal, agent‑capable LLM that the company says improves performance for complex tasks and supports hosted APIs/open weights — a clear strategic boost to Alibaba Cloud’s AI services revenue opportunity. Alibaba unveils new Qwen3.5 model for ‘agentic AI era’
• Positive Sentiment: Company claims Qwen‑3.5 cuts costs and raises throughput (reports cite ~60% lower cost, up to 8x throughput vs prior models) — this could improve cloud margins and make Alibaba more competitive vs Western models. Alibaba Launches Qwen3.5 AI Model With 60% Lower Costs, 8x Throughput
• Positive Sentiment: Some analysts remain constructive — a recent note highlights Alibaba as undervalued ahead of upcoming earnings, citing strong cloud AI demand and upside if EPS normalizes by FY27–28. Alibaba: Shares At Critical Support Into Earnings, AI Capex In Focus
• Neutral Sentiment: Competitive context: analysts and media compare Alibaba with Amazon and MercadoLibre — Alibaba has strengths in scale and China market access, but faces a different margin and capex dynamic than AWS. This shapes relative investment cases rather than an immediate directional catalyst. Amazon vs. Alibaba: Which E-Commerce Titan Has an Edge Right Now?
• Negative Sentiment: Regulatory / legal risk: shareholder law firms continue a securities‑fraud investigation into Alibaba tied to earlier disclosures — litigation headlines can increase volatility and downside risk. Securities-Fraud-Investigation-Into-Alibaba-Group-Holding-Ltd.-(BABA)-Continues
• Negative Sentiment: National‑security scrutiny / Pentagon listing confusion produced a recent tech selloff tied to blacklist worries — geopolitical/government headlines can trigger near‑term selling pressure on U.S.-listed Chinese names. Alibaba Faces Pentagon Scrutiny As Qwen 3.5 Sharpens AI Investment Case
• Negative Sentiment: Profitability risk: media and analysts warn that heavy AI capex and rising operating costs have pressured operating income and free cash flow despite strong cloud growth — a near‑term headwind for earnings and multiples. Alibaba Stock Rises 28% in 6 Months: Hold Tight or Time to Let Go?

Alibaba Group Company Profile

Alibaba Group Holding Limited is a Chinese multinational conglomerate founded in 1999 in Hangzhou, China, by Jack Ma and a group of co‑founders. The company built its business around internet-based commerce and related services and has grown into one of the largest e-commerce and technology companies in the world. Alibaba completed a high‑profile initial public offering on the New York Stock Exchange in 2014.

The company operates a portfolio of online marketplaces and platforms serving different customer segments: Alibaba.com for global and domestic B2B trade, Taobao for consumer-to-consumer shopping, and Tmall for brand and retailer storefronts targeted at Chinese consumers.