Alibaba Group (NYSE:BABA) Stock Price Up 4.2% – Time to Buy?

Alibaba Group Holding Limited (NYSE:BABA) shot up 4.2% during trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $101.46 and last traded at $100.83. 12,959,656 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 25% from the average session volume of 17,353,996 shares. The stock had previously closed at $96.72.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BABA has been the subject of several research reports. Bank of America increased their price target on shares of Alibaba Group from $106.00 to $124.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. StockNews.com cut shares of Alibaba Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, December 14th. Mizuho increased their price objective on Alibaba Group from $92.00 to $113.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on Alibaba Group from $88.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Macquarie upgraded Alibaba Group from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $145.00 price target for the company in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $115.13.

Alibaba Group Trading Up 6.2 %

The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $85.93 and its 200 day simple moving average is $88.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 1.37 and a current ratio of 1.37. The firm has a market cap of $244.75 billion, a PE ratio of 20.84, a PEG ratio of 0.37 and a beta of 0.30.

Alibaba Group (NYSE:BABA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, November 15th. The specialty retailer reported $15.06 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.87 by $13.19. The business had revenue of $236.50 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $239.45 billion. Alibaba Group had a return on equity of 12.28% and a net margin of 8.98%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.82 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Alibaba Group Holding Limited will post 7.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Sanders Capital LLC grew its position in shares of Alibaba Group by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 18,460,434 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $1,959,021,000 after buying an additional 60,667 shares during the period. Hhlr Advisors LTD. increased its holdings in shares of Alibaba Group by 64.1% in the 3rd quarter. Hhlr Advisors LTD. now owns 8,827,600 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $936,785,000 after purchasing an additional 3,448,152 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its stake in shares of Alibaba Group by 1,392.6% in the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 6,125,542 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $650,043,000 after purchasing an additional 5,715,155 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Alibaba Group by 3,180.1% during the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 3,857,760 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $409,385,000 after purchasing an additional 3,740,150 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC boosted its position in shares of Alibaba Group by 454.2% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,611,571 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $383,260,000 after buying an additional 2,959,954 shares during the last quarter. 13.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Alibaba Group

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.