HighTower Advisors LLC Has $88.72 Million Stock Holdings in Alibaba Group Holding Limited $BABA

HighTower Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Alibaba Group Holding Limited (NYSE:BABA) by 87.5% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 605,243 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 282,362 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in Alibaba Group were worth $88,717,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in BABA. Ameriflex Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Alibaba Group by 101.4% in the third quarter. Ameriflex Group Inc. now owns 143 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 72 shares in the last quarter. Foster Dykema Cabot & Partners LLC bought a new position in Alibaba Group in the third quarter worth approximately $30,000. Costello Asset Management INC bought a new position in Alibaba Group in the fourth quarter worth approximately $34,000. Palisade Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Alibaba Group in the third quarter worth approximately $37,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in Alibaba Group by 107.7% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 324 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $47,000 after acquiring an additional 168 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 13.47% of the company’s stock.

Key Headlines Impacting Alibaba Group

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

• Positive Sentiment: Investor commentary remains upbeat on Alibaba’s cloud and AI businesses, with several articles highlighting accelerating cloud growth, triple-digit AI revenue gains, and the view that BABA may be evolving into a more compelling AI growth stock.
• Positive Sentiment: Recent bullish pieces argue the stock could be entering a “new era,” pointing to Alibaba’s large planned investment in cloud and AI infrastructure as a long-term growth catalyst.
• Neutral Sentiment: Alibaba continues to attract attention from traders and analysts, with multiple “buy now” and valuation-focused articles reflecting strong interest but no fresh fundamental catalyst.
• Neutral Sentiment: Broader Asia ADR trading was modestly weaker, which may have created some market pressure on Alibaba alongside other Chinese-listed names.
• Negative Sentiment: One recent article said BABA fell after heavy AI and cloud spending squeezed margins, reinforcing investor concern that the company is trading near-term profitability for long-term growth.
• Negative Sentiment: A separate analysis warned that while Alibaba’s cloud promise remains intact, the stock still looks expensive relative to the current earnings profile.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have issued reports on BABA shares. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Alibaba Group from $180.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 14th. Zacks Research lowered Alibaba Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Susquehanna raised their target price on Alibaba Group from $170.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a report on Friday. DZ Bank cut Alibaba Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $135.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Friday, March 20th. Finally, Erste Group Bank cut Alibaba Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have given a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $188.76.

Alibaba Group Stock Up 1.7%

Shares of NYSE:BABA opened at $135.58 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $325.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.26, a PEG ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.50. The company has a quick ratio of 1.33, a current ratio of 1.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. Alibaba Group Holding Limited has a 12-month low of $103.71 and a 12-month high of $192.67. The business’s 50 day moving average is $131.80 and its 200 day moving average is $148.55.

Alibaba Group (NYSE:BABA) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, March 31st. The specialty retailer reported $0.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The company had revenue of $35.30 billion for the quarter. Alibaba Group had a return on equity of 4.76% and a net margin of 10.31%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Alibaba Group Holding Limited will post 6.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alibaba Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared an annual dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, June 11th will be issued a dividend of $1.05 per share. This represents a yield of 72.0%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 11th. Alibaba Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 15.60%.

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.