Alibaba Group (NYSE:BABA) Shares Gap Up Following Analyst Upgrade

Alibaba Group Holding Limited (NYSE:BABA) shares gapped up prior to trading on Thursday after Robert W. Baird raised their price target on the stock from $110.00 to $125.00. The stock had previously closed at $125.79, but opened at $137.81. Robert W. Baird currently has an outperform rating on the stock. Alibaba Group shares last traded at $139.63, with a volume of 51,119,766 shares traded.

Other equities analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $118.00 target price on shares of Alibaba Group in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Citigroup increased their price target on Alibaba Group from $133.00 to $138.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 10th. StockNews.com lowered Alibaba Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Mizuho raised their target price on shares of Alibaba Group from $92.00 to $113.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, Barclays cut their price target on shares of Alibaba Group from $137.00 to $130.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $116.93.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Alibaba Group

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Concord Wealth Partners boosted its stake in Alibaba Group by 155.0% in the 3rd quarter. Concord Wealth Partners now owns 255 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 155 shares during the period. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Alibaba Group during the fourth quarter worth $31,000. Sierra Ocean LLC bought a new stake in shares of Alibaba Group in the fourth quarter valued at about $32,000. Highline Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Alibaba Group in the third quarter valued at about $36,000. Finally, Assetmark Inc. increased its position in Alibaba Group by 225.4% during the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 397 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 275 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 13.47% of the company’s stock.

Alibaba Group Stock Up 9.5 %

The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $93.37 and its 200-day simple moving average is $92.11. The stock has a market cap of $327.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.98, a P/E/G ratio of 0.54 and a beta of 0.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 1.37 and a current ratio of 1.37.

Alibaba Group (NYSE:BABA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The specialty retailer reported $2.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.84 by ($0.07). Alibaba Group had a net margin of 8.98% and a return on equity of 12.28%. As a group, research analysts forecast that Alibaba Group Holding Limited will post 7.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alibaba Group Company Profile

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.