Alibaba Group Holding Limited (NYSE:BABA) Shares Sold by Pzena Investment Management LLC

Pzena Investment Management LLC reduced its holdings in shares of Alibaba Group Holding Limited (NYSE:BABA) by 16.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 54,425 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 10,885 shares during the quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Alibaba Group were worth $4,615,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Alibaba Group during the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. Sierra Ocean LLC purchased a new position 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. Kieckhefer Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Alibaba Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $55,000. Finally, Vision Financial Markets LLC purchased a new position in Alibaba Group during the 4th quarter worth approximately $55,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 13.47% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on BABA shares. 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. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Alibaba Group from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $100.00 to $180.00 in a research note on Monday, February 24th. Barclays upped their price objective on Alibaba Group from $130.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Bank of America boosted their target price on Alibaba Group from $117.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, Benchmark boosted their price objective on shares of Alibaba Group from $118.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Fifteen investment 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, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $144.07.

Alibaba Group Stock Up 5.0 %

Alibaba Group stock opened at $139.21 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $330.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.61 and a beta of 0.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a quick ratio of 1.48 and a current ratio of 1.48. Alibaba Group Holding Limited has a fifty-two week low of $68.36 and a fifty-two week high of $145.36. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $107.51 and its two-hundred day moving average is $97.63.

Alibaba Group (NYSE:BABA) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The specialty retailer reported $2.77 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.84 by ($0.07). The business had revenue of $38.38 billion for 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%. Analysts predict that Alibaba Group Holding Limited will post 7.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alibaba Group Company 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.