Alibaba Group Holding Limited $BABA Shares Bought by Rathbones Group PLC

Rathbones Group PLC grew its position in shares of Alibaba Group Holding Limited (NYSE:BABA) by 8.8% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 73,646 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,959 shares during the period. Rathbones Group PLC’s holdings in Alibaba Group were worth $9,240,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in BABA. Capital World Investors grew its holdings in Alibaba Group by 7.7% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 6,505,165 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $953,527,000 after purchasing an additional 466,847 shares in the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. boosted its position in Alibaba Group by 7,680.3% in the 4th quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 6,014,147 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $881,554,000 after buying an additional 5,936,847 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Alibaba Group by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 5,335,894 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $782,135,000 after buying an additional 42,297 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Alibaba Group during the fourth quarter valued at about $594,477,000. Finally, AMF Tjanstepension AB grew its stake in shares of Alibaba Group by 4.1% during the first quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 2,206,634 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $276,844,000 after acquiring an additional 86,613 shares in the last quarter. 13.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently commented on BABA. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Alibaba Group from $200.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 14th. BNP Paribas Exane began coverage on Alibaba Group in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $209.00 price objective for the company. Susquehanna lifted their price objective on Alibaba Group from $170.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a report on Friday, May 15th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Alibaba Group in a research report on Wednesday, May 27th. Finally, Mizuho increased their target price on Alibaba Group from $190.00 to $195.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 14th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $186.90.

Alibaba Group News Roundup

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

• Positive Sentiment: Alibaba unveiled Qwen3.8-Max, its largest and most capable Qwen model to date. The model reportedly contains 2.4 trillion parameters and is positioned as competitive with leading global systems, including models from Anthropic. The launch improved sentiment around Alibaba’s ability to compete in the rapidly expanding AI market. Alibaba shares rally after unveiling its most powerful AI model
• Positive Sentiment: Alibaba plans to release Qwen3.8-Max as an open-weight model for developers worldwide. Broader developer adoption could increase demand for Alibaba Cloud services, enterprise AI workloads and related infrastructure, strengthening the company’s long-term AI monetization opportunity. Alibaba’s Qwen3.8-Max intensifies AI battle with U.S. rivals
• Neutral Sentiment: The release intensifies competition among Chinese AI developers, coming shortly after Moonshot AI introduced its larger Kimi K3 model. Alibaba’s claims about benchmark performance may support its narrative, but actual customer adoption, usage and cloud revenue have yet to be demonstrated. Alibaba unveils its most capable AI model
• Negative Sentiment: Open-weight AI may limit direct monetization of the model and could require substantial ongoing spending on computing capacity. The increasingly competitive AI race also raises execution and capital-investment risks, tempering the otherwise positive investor reaction. Alibaba Stock Pops on New AI Model but Here’s the Bad News

Insider Activity at Alibaba Group

In other news, General Counsel Siying Yu sold 6,772 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $12.10, for a total transaction of $81,941.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel directly owned 607,234 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,347,531.40. The trade was a 1.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, CFO Hong Xu sold 175,054 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $12.15, for a total value of $2,126,906.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 280,496 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,408,026.40. This trade represents a 38.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 920,303 shares of company stock valued at $70,796,370. Company insiders own 12.50% of the company’s stock.

Alibaba Group Stock Up 4.1%

Alibaba Group stock opened at $127.29 on Tuesday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $112.78 and a 200-day simple moving average of $132.33. The firm has a market capitalization of $305.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.90, a P/E/G ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 1.28 and a current ratio of 1.28. Alibaba Group Holding Limited has a one year low of $91.99 and a one year high of $192.67.

Alibaba Group (NYSE:BABA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, March 31st. The specialty retailer reported $0.01 earnings per share for the quarter. The firm had revenue of $35.30 billion for the quarter. Alibaba Group had a net margin of 10.31% and a return on equity of 4.76%. As a group, equities analysts expect that Alibaba Group Holding Limited will post 6.31 earnings per share for the current year.

Alibaba Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared an annual dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 11th were issued a dividend of $1.05 per share. This represents a dividend yield of 93.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, June 11th. Alibaba Group’s payout ratio is 16.91%.

About Alibaba Group

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.