Alibaba Group (NYSE:BABA) Reaches New 1-Year High – Here’s Why

Alibaba Group Holding Limited (NYSE:BABA) shares hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $119.81 and last traded at $118.35, with a volume of 43876099 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $112.78.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BABA has been the subject of a number of research reports. Mizuho lifted their price objective on shares of Alibaba Group from $92.00 to $113.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Benchmark restated a “buy” rating and issued a $118.00 price target on shares of Alibaba Group in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on Alibaba Group from $88.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. StockNews.com cut Alibaba Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Barclays reduced their price target on Alibaba Group from $137.00 to $130.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Alibaba Group has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $115.86.

Alibaba Group Price Performance

The firm has a market cap of $296.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.30, a PEG ratio of 0.42 and a beta of 0.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 1.37 and a quick ratio of 1.37. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $90.47 and a 200 day moving average price of $90.70.

Alibaba Group (NYSE:BABA) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 company had revenue of $236.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $239.45 billion. Alibaba Group had a return on equity of 12.28% and a net margin of 8.98%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.82 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Alibaba Group Holding Limited will post 7.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Alibaba Group

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Alibaba Group by 21.1% during the fourth quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 155,440 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $13,180,000 after buying an additional 27,088 shares during the period. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC lifted its position in Alibaba Group by 131.2% during the 4th quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 74,807 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $6,343,000 after acquiring an additional 42,446 shares during the period. Generate Investment Management Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Alibaba Group in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $12,656,000. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV increased its holdings in shares of Alibaba Group by 63.9% in the third quarter. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV now owns 28,716 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $3,047,000 after purchasing an additional 11,192 shares during the period. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its stake in shares of Alibaba Group by 7,734.1% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 269,805 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $28,632,000 after purchasing an additional 266,361 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.