Traders Purchase Large Volume of Call Options on Alibaba Group (NYSE:BABA)

Alibaba Group Holding Limited (NYSE:BABA) saw unusually large options trading on Thursday. Stock investors acquired 272,236 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of 26% compared to the average daily volume of 216,456 call options.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Alibaba Group

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. TRUE Private Wealth Advisors increased its stake in Alibaba Group by 3.7% in the 3rd quarter. TRUE Private Wealth Advisors now owns 3,123 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $331,000 after purchasing an additional 112 shares in the last quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Alibaba Group by 6.0% in the third quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,152 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $228,000 after purchasing an additional 121 shares during the last quarter. ICA Group Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Alibaba Group by 14.6% in the second quarter. ICA Group Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,004 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $72,000 after buying an additional 128 shares in the last quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Alibaba Group by 4.3% during the 3rd quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,400 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $361,000 after buying an additional 139 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. boosted its position in shares of Alibaba Group by 3.0% in the 3rd quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 4,857 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $515,000 after buying an additional 143 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 13.47% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BABA has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Alibaba Group from $107.00 to $137.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $116.00 price objective on shares of Alibaba Group in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Bank of America raised their price target on Alibaba Group from $106.00 to $124.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and set a $90.00 price target on shares of Alibaba Group in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Alibaba Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $114.53.

Alibaba Group Stock Performance

Shares of BABA stock traded down $1.99 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $88.59. The company had a trading volume of 31,018,266 shares, compared to its average volume of 17,693,400. Alibaba Group has a 52-week low of $66.63 and a 52-week high of $117.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a current ratio of 1.41 and a quick ratio of 1.41. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $98.18 and its 200 day simple moving average is $85.56. The stock has a market cap of $212.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.19, a PEG ratio of 0.41 and a beta of 0.35.

Alibaba Group (NYSE:BABA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 15th. The specialty retailer reported $16.44 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.87 by $14.57. The company had revenue of $243.24 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $248.32 billion. Alibaba Group had a net margin of 7.31% and a return on equity of 12.08%. Alibaba Group’s quarterly revenue was up 3.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.47 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Alibaba Group will post 8.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About Alibaba Group

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.