Brokerages Set Alibaba Group Holding Limited (NYSE:BABA) Target Price at $144.07

Shares of Alibaba Group Holding Limited (NYSE:BABA) have received an average rating of “Buy” from the fifteen brokerages that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Fourteen analysts have rated the stock with a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $144.07.

BABA has been the topic of several recent research reports. Sanford C. Bernstein raised shares of Alibaba Group from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $104.00 to $165.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Alibaba Group from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $100.00 to $180.00 in a research report on Monday, February 24th. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Alibaba Group from $133.00 to $138.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Arete Research raised shares of Alibaba Group to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Benchmark lifted their price target on shares of Alibaba Group from $118.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st.

Alibaba Group Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of Alibaba Group stock opened at $140.59 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $105.46 and its 200-day moving average price is $96.81. The company has a quick ratio of 1.48, a current ratio of 1.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19. Alibaba Group has a 52-week low of $68.36 and a 52-week high of $145.36. The company has a market cap of $334.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.32, a PEG ratio of 0.61 and a beta of 0.31.

Alibaba Group (NYSE:BABA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The specialty retailer reported $2.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.84 by ($0.07). Alibaba Group had a return on equity of 12.89% and a net margin of 12.29%. The firm had revenue of $38.38 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $38.19 billion. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Alibaba Group will post 7.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Alibaba Group

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Fluent Financial LLC grew its position in Alibaba Group by 22.6% in the fourth quarter. Fluent Financial LLC now owns 10,627 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $901,000 after acquiring an additional 1,957 shares in the last quarter. Pinnacle Wealth Planning Services Inc. grew its position in Alibaba Group by 3.6% in the fourth quarter. Pinnacle Wealth Planning Services Inc. now owns 3,134 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $266,000 after acquiring an additional 108 shares in the last quarter. LM Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Alibaba Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $855,000. Lakeshore Capital Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Alibaba Group during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,194,000. Finally, Garde Capital Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Alibaba Group by 45.5% during the 4th quarter. Garde Capital Inc. now owns 1,696 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $144,000 after buying an additional 530 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.