Alibaba Group (NYSE:BABA) Raised to “Buy” at StockNews.com

Alibaba Group (NYSE:BABA) was upgraded by equities researchers at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note issued to investors on Thursday.

BABA has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of Alibaba Group from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $104.00 to $165.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on shares of Alibaba Group from $110.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. 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. Bank of America increased their target price on shares of Alibaba Group from $117.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, Citigroup boosted 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. Fifteen research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $148.14.

Alibaba Group Trading Down 9.9 %

Shares of Alibaba Group stock opened at $116.56 on Thursday. 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 stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $125.77 and a 200 day simple moving average of $103.96. Alibaba Group has a 12-month low of $68.36 and a 12-month high of $148.43. The company has a market capitalization of $276.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.61 and a beta of 0.24.

Alibaba Group (NYSE:BABA) last announced 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). Alibaba Group had a net margin of 12.29% and a return on equity of 12.89%. The firm had revenue of $38.38 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $38.19 billion. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Alibaba Group will post 7.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of BABA. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Alibaba Group by 21.1% in the 4th quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 155,440 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $13,180,000 after buying an additional 27,088 shares during the last quarter. Berkshire Asset Management LLC PA purchased a new position in Alibaba Group in the fourth quarter worth $911,000. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC increased its stake in Alibaba Group by 131.2% in the fourth quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 74,807 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $6,343,000 after acquiring an additional 42,446 shares during the last quarter. Bailard Inc. raised its position in Alibaba Group by 46.3% during the fourth quarter. Bailard Inc. now owns 10,245 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $869,000 after purchasing an additional 3,242 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Park Avenue Securities LLC lifted its stake in Alibaba Group by 31.3% during the fourth quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 18,465 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $1,566,000 after purchasing an additional 4,397 shares during the last quarter. 13.47% of the stock is currently owned by 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.