Syon Capital LLC Takes $740,000 Position in Alibaba Group Holding Limited (NYSE:BABA)

Syon Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Alibaba Group Holding Limited (NYSE:BABA) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor purchased 9,541 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $740,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of BABA. Morgan Stanley increased its stake in Alibaba Group by 13.8% in the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 11,610,078 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $1,007,058,000 after purchasing an additional 1,406,491 shares during the period. Sanders Capital LLC increased its stake in shares of Alibaba Group by 322.7% during the third 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. Cerity Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Alibaba Group by 299.9% during the fourth quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 82,888 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $6,428,000 after buying an additional 62,163 shares during the period. Certuity LLC increased its stake in shares of Alibaba Group by 122.2% during the third quarter. Certuity LLC now owns 113,704 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $9,863,000 after buying an additional 62,543 shares during the period. Finally, Taikang Asset Management Hong Kong Co Ltd increased its stake in shares of Alibaba Group by 19.7% during the third quarter. Taikang Asset Management Hong Kong Co Ltd now owns 730,000 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $63,320,000 after buying an additional 120,000 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 13.47% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on BABA shares. Morgan Stanley restated an “equal weight” rating and set a $85.00 price target on shares of Alibaba Group in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Citigroup dropped their price target on Alibaba Group from $126.00 to $124.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Barclays dropped their target price on Alibaba Group from $138.00 to $109.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 12th. StockNews.com raised Alibaba Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 27th. Finally, Macquarie downgraded Alibaba Group from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $88.50 to $85.40 in a report on Thursday, February 8th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Alibaba Group has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $112.91.

Alibaba Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE BABA traded up $0.44 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $75.55. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 13,846,556 shares, compared to its average volume of 17,979,658. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $73.16 and a two-hundred day moving average of $75.56. Alibaba Group Holding Limited has a 52 week low of $66.63 and a 52 week high of $102.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $191.71 billion, a PE ratio of 13.99 and a beta of 0.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 1.80 and a quick ratio of 1.80.

Alibaba Group (NYSE:BABA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 7th. The specialty retailer reported $18.97 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $19.12 by ($0.15). Alibaba Group had a net margin of 10.75% and a return on equity of 12.65%. The firm had revenue of $260.35 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $260.26 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.44 earnings per share. Alibaba Group’s quarterly revenue was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Alibaba Group Holding Limited will post 7.54 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.