Alibaba Group (NYSE:BABA) Stock Price Down 1.7% – Time to Sell?

Alibaba Group Holding Limited (NYSE:BABA) traded down 1.7% on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $98.60 and last traded at $98.71. 4,271,673 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 76% from the average session volume of 17,842,508 shares. The stock had previously closed at $100.46.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Susquehanna cut their target price on Alibaba Group from $135.00 to $130.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 19th. Loop Capital restated a “buy” rating and issued a $115.00 target price on shares of Alibaba Group in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Alibaba Group from $106.00 to $124.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $118.00 price target on shares of Alibaba Group in a report on Friday, August 16th. Finally, Macquarie raised shares of Alibaba Group from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $145.00 price target on the stock in a report on Monday, October 7th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $114.00.

Alibaba Group Trading Up 1.0 %

The stock has a market cap of $246.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.90, a PEG ratio of 0.55 and a beta of 0.35. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $93.79 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $82.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a current ratio of 1.41 and a quick ratio of 1.41.

Alibaba Group (NYSE:BABA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 15th. The specialty retailer reported $16.44 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.87 by $14.57. The firm had revenue of $243.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $248.32 billion. Alibaba Group had a net margin of 7.31% and a return on equity of 12.08%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 3.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.47 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Alibaba Group Holding Limited will post 7.93 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its position in Alibaba Group by 1,392.6% during the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 6,125,542 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $650,043,000 after buying an additional 5,715,155 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its position in Alibaba Group by 9,205.2% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,697,358 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $1,801,240,000 after buying an additional 1,679,117 shares during the period. AMF Tjanstepension AB boosted its position in Alibaba Group by 79.5% during the second quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 2,610,884 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $188,197,000 after buying an additional 1,156,479 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP boosted its position in Alibaba Group by 384.2% during the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,424,944 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $102,596,000 after buying an additional 1,130,643 shares during the period. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC boosted its position in Alibaba Group by 523.8% during the second quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 1,335,600 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $96,163,000 after buying an additional 1,121,500 shares during the period. 13.47% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.