Alibaba Group (NYSE:BABA) Trading Down 1.3% – What’s Next?

Alibaba Group Holding Limited (NYSE:BABA) fell 1.3% on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $84.96 and last traded at $85.29. 3,221,703 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 72% from the average session volume of 11,620,654 shares. The stock had previously closed at $86.40.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently commented on BABA. Bank of America boosted their price target on Alibaba Group from $106.00 to $124.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Alibaba Group from $137.00 to $130.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Benchmark restated a “buy” rating and set a $118.00 price target on shares of Alibaba Group in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Mizuho increased their price objective on shares of Alibaba Group from $92.00 to $113.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Alibaba Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, December 14th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $115.13.

Alibaba Group Stock Up 3.5 %

The business has a 50-day moving average of $85.54 and a 200-day moving average of $88.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 1.37 and a current ratio of 1.37. The stock has a market capitalization of $212.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.08, a P/E/G ratio of 0.37 and a beta of 0.30.

Alibaba Group (NYSE:BABA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, November 15th. The specialty retailer reported $15.06 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.87 by $13.19. Alibaba Group had a net margin of 8.98% and a return on equity of 12.28%. The business had revenue of $236.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $239.45 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.82 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Alibaba Group Holding Limited will post 7.86 EPS for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Alibaba Group

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Toronto Dominion Bank raised its stake in shares of Alibaba Group by 6,225.1% in the second quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 89,247 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $6,426,000 after acquiring an additional 87,836 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. acquired a new stake in Alibaba Group in the 2nd quarter valued at about $38,000. Caxton Associates LP purchased a new position in shares of Alibaba Group in the 2nd quarter valued at about $359,000. Mackenzie Financial Corp grew its position in shares of Alibaba Group by 4.8% during the second quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 90,976 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $6,550,000 after buying an additional 4,170 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Scion Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Alibaba Group by 24.0% during the second quarter. Scion Asset Management LLC now owns 155,000 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $11,160,000 after buying an additional 30,000 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 13.47% of the company’s stock.

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.