Alibaba Group (NYSE:BABA) Trading Down 4% – Here’s Why

Alibaba Group Holding Limited (NYSE:BABA)’s share price fell 4% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as low as $136.81 and last traded at $137.42. 11,060,869 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 42% from the average session volume of 18,950,900 shares. The stock had previously closed at $143.20.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on BABA. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Alibaba Group from $133.00 to $138.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 10th. Benchmark upped their target price on shares of Alibaba Group from $118.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Alibaba Group from $130.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. StockNews.com raised shares of Alibaba Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on shares of Alibaba Group from $110.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Fifteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $144.07.

Alibaba Group Price Performance

The firm has a market cap of $324.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.76, a PEG ratio of 0.61 and a beta of 0.27. The company has a quick ratio of 1.48, a current ratio of 1.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $114.33 and its 200-day moving average price is $100.04.

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). The business had revenue of $38.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $38.19 billion. Alibaba Group had a return on equity of 12.89% and a net margin of 12.29%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Alibaba Group Holding Limited will post 7.86 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Alibaba Group

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in BABA. Sanders Capital LLC raised its holdings in Alibaba Group by 0.3% in the third quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 18,460,434 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $1,959,021,000 after acquiring an additional 60,667 shares in the last quarter. Appaloosa LP raised its holdings in Alibaba Group by 18.4% in the fourth quarter. Appaloosa LP now owns 11,843,158 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $1,004,181,000 after acquiring an additional 1,843,158 shares in the last quarter. Hhlr Advisors LTD. grew its position in shares of Alibaba Group by 64.1% during the third quarter. Hhlr Advisors LTD. now owns 8,827,600 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $936,785,000 after acquiring an additional 3,448,152 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Alibaba Group during the fourth quarter worth approximately $585,479,000. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE grew its position in shares of Alibaba Group by 7.0% during the fourth quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 6,676,773 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $566,124,000 after acquiring an additional 438,537 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 13.47% of the company’s stock.

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.