Alibaba Group (NYSE:BABA) Trading 0.1% Higher – Time to Buy?

Alibaba Group Holding Limited (NYSE:BABA)’s stock price was up 0.1% on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $86.90 and last traded at $85.17. Approximately 5,969,419 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 48% from the average daily volume of 11,455,344 shares. The stock had previously closed at $85.12.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on BABA. Macquarie upgraded shares of Alibaba Group from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $145.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 7th. StockNews.com cut shares of Alibaba Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, December 14th. Benchmark reissued a “buy” rating and set a $118.00 price target on shares of Alibaba Group in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on Alibaba Group from $88.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Barclays reduced their target price on Alibaba Group from $137.00 to $130.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $115.13.

Alibaba Group Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of $204.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.46, a P/E/G ratio of 0.45 and a beta of 0.30. 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 business’s 50-day moving average price is $85.62 and its 200-day moving average price is $88.00.

Alibaba Group (NYSE:BABA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, November 15th. The specialty retailer reported $15.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.87 by $13.19. Alibaba Group had a net margin of 8.98% and a return on equity of 12.28%. The firm had revenue of $236.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $239.45 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.82 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Alibaba Group Holding Limited will post 7.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Alibaba Group

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. TRUE Private Wealth Advisors lifted its position in Alibaba Group by 3.7% during the 3rd quarter. TRUE Private Wealth Advisors now owns 3,123 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $331,000 after buying an additional 112 shares in the last quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Alibaba Group by 6.0% in the 3rd quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,152 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $228,000 after buying an additional 121 shares during the last quarter. Capital Investment Advisory Services LLC grew its stake in shares of Alibaba Group by 3.3% in the fourth quarter. Capital Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 3,883 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $329,000 after buying an additional 124 shares in the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC increased its holdings in Alibaba Group by 3.6% during the fourth quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 3,825 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $324,000 after buying an additional 134 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wynn Capital LLC raised its position in Alibaba Group by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Wynn Capital LLC now owns 13,013 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $1,103,000 after acquiring an additional 135 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.