Benchmark Reaffirms Buy Rating for Alibaba Group (NYSE:BABA)

Alibaba Group (NYSE:BABA)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reiterated by investment analysts at Benchmark in a research note issued to investors on Friday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $150.00 price objective on the specialty retailer’s stock. Benchmark’s price target would suggest a potential upside of 92.48% from the stock’s previous close.

BABA has been the topic of several other reports. Susquehanna reaffirmed a “positive” rating and issued a $160.00 price target on shares of Alibaba Group in a research note on Thursday, August 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of Alibaba Group from $150.00 to $125.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday. Truist Financial dropped their price objective on shares of Alibaba Group from $126.00 to $120.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their target price on shares of Alibaba Group from $98.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 11th. Finally, StockNews.com assumed coverage on Alibaba Group in a research report on Thursday, October 5th. They issued a “buy” rating on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $131.20.

Alibaba Group Trading Down 1.5 %

Shares of NYSE:BABA traded down $1.18 on Friday, hitting $77.93. The company had a trading volume of 23,461,859 shares, compared to its average volume of 19,315,244. Alibaba Group has a 1 year low of $74.58 and a 1 year high of $121.30. The company has a quick ratio of 1.92, a current ratio of 1.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $84.79 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $87.63. The firm has a market capitalization of $199.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.76 and a beta of 0.67.

Alibaba Group (NYSE:BABA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 16th. The specialty retailer reported $15.63 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $15.28 by $0.35. Alibaba Group had a return on equity of 12.55% and a net margin of 9.45%. The business had revenue of $224.79 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $224.48 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.50 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that Alibaba Group will post 7.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Alibaba Group

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of BABA. Sanders Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Alibaba Group by 322.7% during the 3rd quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 15,029,238 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $1,303,636,000 after buying an additional 11,473,618 shares during the period. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Alibaba Group by 108,264.6% in the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,711,488 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $326,945,000 after acquiring an additional 3,708,063 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its stake in shares of Alibaba Group by 461.2% during the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 4,215,884 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $365,686,000 after purchasing an additional 3,464,723 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its position in shares of Alibaba Group by 39.5% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 11,034,187 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $1,127,475,000 after purchasing an additional 3,124,057 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Alibaba Group by 650.4% in the 1st quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,172,551 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $28,887,000 after purchasing an additional 1,883,022 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 14.22% of the company’s stock.

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.