Alibaba Group Holding Limited (NYSE:BABA) Shares Sold by Brandes Investment Partners LP

Brandes Investment Partners LP cut its holdings in Alibaba Group Holding Limited (NYSE:BABA) by 7.5% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 661,261 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 53,509 shares during the period. Brandes Investment Partners LP’s holdings in Alibaba Group were worth $56,068,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Alibaba Group during the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. Sierra Ocean LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Alibaba Group during the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. Assetmark Inc. increased its position in shares of Alibaba Group by 225.4% during the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 397 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 275 shares in the last quarter. Vision Financial Markets LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Alibaba Group during the fourth quarter worth about $55,000. Finally, Kieckhefer Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Alibaba Group during the fourth quarter worth about $55,000. 13.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BABA has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley upgraded Alibaba Group from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $100.00 to $180.00 in a research report on Monday, February 24th. Arete Research upgraded Alibaba Group to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded Alibaba Group from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $104.00 to $165.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. StockNews.com upgraded Alibaba Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, Barclays boosted their price target on Alibaba Group from $130.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Fifteen analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $144.07.

Alibaba Group Price Performance

Shares of BABA opened at $140.99 on Friday. Alibaba Group Holding Limited has a twelve month low of $68.36 and a twelve month high of $145.36. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $110.73 and its two-hundred day moving average is $98.59. The firm has a market capitalization of $334.99 billion, a PE ratio of 20.37, a P/E/G ratio of 0.61 and a beta of 0.28. 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 announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The specialty retailer reported $2.77 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.84 by ($0.07). The business had revenue of $38.38 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $38.19 billion. Alibaba Group had a net margin of 12.29% and a return on equity of 12.89%. Research analysts anticipate that Alibaba Group Holding Limited will post 7.86 earnings per share for the current year.

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.