128,698 Alibaba Group Holding Limited $BABA Shares Sold by Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc.

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Alibaba Group Holding Limited (NYSE:BABA) by 63.9% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 72,747 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 128,698 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc.’s holdings in Alibaba Group were worth $7,823,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of BABA. Nykredit A S purchased a new stake in shares of Alibaba Group in the second quarter worth about $50,417,000. Pale Fire Capital SE acquired a new position in Alibaba Group in the second quarter valued at approximately $49,810,000. Candriam S.C.A. boosted its position in Alibaba Group by 104.6% in the 1st quarter. Candriam S.C.A. now owns 564,818 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $70,862,000 after purchasing an additional 288,738 shares in the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. boosted its position in Alibaba Group by 63.5% in the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 573,409 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $71,940,000 after purchasing an additional 222,666 shares in the last quarter. Finally, WCM Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Alibaba Group by 347.6% during the 1st quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC now owns 249,736 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $30,463,000 after purchasing an additional 193,947 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 13.47% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BABA has been the subject of several recent research reports. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $165.00 target price on shares of Alibaba Group in a report on Monday, September 7th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $192.00 price target on shares of Alibaba Group in a report on Thursday, October 8th. Susquehanna increased their price target on shares of Alibaba Group from $185.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a report on Friday, August 28th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Alibaba Group from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Friday, October 2nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of Alibaba Group from $210.00 to $200.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, October 12th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have given a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $182.89.

Alibaba Group Price Performance

BABA stock traded up $1.17 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $109.24. 9,546,798 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,576,816. The company has a market cap of $271.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 0.44. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $108.28 and its 200 day moving average is $125.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 1.36 and a quick ratio of 1.36. Alibaba Group Holding Limited has a 12-month low of $91.99 and a 12-month high of $181.10.

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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $39.52 billion. Alibaba Group had a net margin of 7.00% and a return on equity of 4.79%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $14.75 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Alibaba Group Holding Limited will post 5.76 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other Alibaba Group news, insider Fang Jiang sold 885,272 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $13.55, for a total transaction of $11,995,435.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 4,679,097 shares in the company, valued at approximately $63,401,764.35. This represents a 15.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, General Counsel Siying Yu sold 6,764 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $13.58, for a total transaction of $91,855.12. Following the transaction, the general counsel owned 613,965 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,337,644.70. This represents a 1.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 999,971 shares of company stock worth $13,563,304. Insiders own 12.50% of the company’s stock.

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.