Alibaba Group (NYSE:BABA) Trading Down 1.4% – Time to Sell?

Alibaba Group Holding Limited (NYSE:BABA) shares fell 1.4% on Monday . The stock traded as low as $128.00 and last traded at $130.58. 5,109,180 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 74% from the average session volume of 19,401,380 shares. The stock had previously closed at $132.43.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have commented on BABA. Sanford C. Bernstein raised shares of Alibaba Group from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price target for the company from $104.00 to $165.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Alibaba Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 26th. Benchmark raised their target price on Alibaba Group from $118.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Mizuho lifted their price objective on Alibaba Group from $140.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Arete Research raised shares of Alibaba Group to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $148.14.

Alibaba Group Stock Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $315.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.13, a P/E/G ratio of 0.61 and a beta of 0.28. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $121.60 and its 200 day simple moving average is $102.70. The company has a current ratio of 1.48, a quick ratio of 1.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19.

Alibaba Group (NYSE:BABA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The specialty retailer reported $2.77 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.84 by ($0.07). The company had revenue of $38.38 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $38.19 billion. Alibaba Group had a return on equity of 12.89% and a net margin of 12.29%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Alibaba Group Holding Limited will post 7.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Alibaba Group

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. bought a new position in Alibaba Group during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Sierra Ocean LLC purchased a new position in Alibaba Group in the 4th quarter worth $32,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL lifted its stake in Alibaba Group by 59.0% in the fourth quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL now owns 539 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Redwood Park Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Alibaba Group during the fourth quarter valued at about $52,000. Finally, Kieckhefer Group LLC purchased a new stake in Alibaba Group during the 4th quarter valued at about $55,000. Institutional investors own 13.47% of the company’s stock.

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.