Sage Investment Counsel LLC Makes New $401,000 Investment in Alibaba Group Holding Limited (NYSE:BABA)

Sage Investment Counsel LLC bought a new position in shares of Alibaba Group Holding Limited (NYSE:BABA) in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor bought 4,734 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $401,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BABA. AMF Tjanstepension AB lifted its stake in shares of Alibaba Group by 6.9% in the 3rd quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 2,789,883 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $296,062,000 after acquiring an additional 178,999 shares during the last quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Alibaba Group by 125.3% in the 3rd quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC now owns 12,970 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $1,376,000 after acquiring an additional 7,214 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. lifted its stake in shares of Alibaba Group by 3.0% in the 3rd quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 4,857 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $515,000 after acquiring an additional 143 shares during the last quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Alibaba Group by 4.4% in the 3rd quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. now owns 4,878 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $518,000 after acquiring an additional 207 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Financial Advocates Investment Management lifted its stake in shares of Alibaba Group by 14.5% in the 3rd quarter. Financial Advocates Investment Management now owns 19,998 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $2,122,000 after acquiring an additional 2,528 shares during the last quarter. 13.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Alibaba Group Stock Performance

Shares of Alibaba Group stock opened at $132.45 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.48, a quick ratio of 1.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $100.36 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $94.79. Alibaba Group Holding Limited has a 1-year low of $68.36 and a 1-year high of $145.30. The company has a market cap of $314.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.14, a PEG ratio of 0.61 and a beta of 0.31.

Alibaba Group (NYSE:BABA) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The specialty retailer reported $2.77 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.84 by ($0.07). The firm had revenue of $38.38 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $38.19 billion. Alibaba Group had a net margin of 12.29% and a return on equity of 12.89%. As a group, analysts anticipate that Alibaba Group Holding Limited will post 7.86 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently commented on BABA. Morgan Stanley upgraded Alibaba Group from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the company from $100.00 to $180.00 in a research note on Monday, February 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Alibaba Group from $125.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. StockNews.com upgraded Alibaba Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Mizuho increased their price objective on Alibaba Group from $92.00 to $113.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on 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, According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $144.07.

Alibaba Group 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.