Alibaba Group (NYSE:BABA) Stock Price Down 1.8% – What’s Next?

Alibaba Group Holding Limited (NYSE:BABA) fell 1.8% on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $88.00 and last traded at $88.19. 3,111,079 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 82% from the average session volume of 17,495,900 shares. The stock had previously closed at $89.83.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BABA has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $118.00 price objective on shares of Alibaba Group in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Alibaba Group from $137.00 to $130.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their target price on Alibaba Group from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Mizuho upped their target price on shares of Alibaba Group from $92.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, Morgan Stanley restated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $90.00 target price on shares of Alibaba Group in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $114.07.

Alibaba Group Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $209.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.76, a P/E/G ratio of 0.44 and a beta of 0.30. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $95.36 and its 200-day moving average price is $86.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 1.37 and a current ratio of 1.37.

Alibaba Group (NYSE:BABA) last released its earnings results on Friday, November 15th. The specialty retailer reported $15.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.87 by $13.19. The business had revenue of $236.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $239.45 billion. Alibaba Group had a net margin of 8.98% and a return on equity of 12.28%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.82 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Alibaba Group Holding Limited will post 8.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Alibaba Group

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in BABA. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its position in Alibaba Group by 1,392.6% in the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its position in shares of Alibaba Group by 3,180.1% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 3,857,760 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $409,385,000 after purchasing an additional 3,740,150 shares during the period. Hhlr Advisors LTD. lifted its holdings in shares of Alibaba Group by 64.1% in the third quarter. Hhlr Advisors LTD. now owns 8,827,600 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $936,785,000 after buying an additional 3,448,152 shares during the period. FMR LLC boosted its stake in Alibaba Group by 454.2% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,611,571 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $383,260,000 after buying an additional 2,959,954 shares in the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its holdings 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 worth $1,801,240,000 after acquiring an additional 1,679,117 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 13.47% 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.