Alibaba Group (NYSE:BABA) Stock Price Down 0.7% – Should You Sell?

Alibaba Group Holding Limited (NYSE:BABA) dropped 0.7% on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $125.50 and last traded at $128.86. Approximately 15,771,811 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 19% from the average daily volume of 19,421,783 shares. The stock had previously closed at $129.79.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on BABA. Citigroup upped their price target on Alibaba Group from $133.00 to $138.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 10th. Arete Research raised shares of Alibaba Group to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Alibaba Group from $117.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Morgan Stanley raised Alibaba Group from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $100.00 to $180.00 in a report on Monday, February 24th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on Alibaba Group from $110.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Fifteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Alibaba Group presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $148.14.

Alibaba Group Price Performance

The company has a market cap of $276.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.84, a PEG ratio of 0.61 and a beta of 0.24. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $125.77 and a 200-day simple moving average of $103.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a quick ratio of 1.48 and a current ratio of 1.48.

Alibaba Group (NYSE:BABA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The specialty retailer reported $2.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.84 by ($0.07). Alibaba Group had a return on equity of 12.89% and a net margin of 12.29%. The business had revenue of $38.38 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $38.19 billion. As a group, research analysts predict that Alibaba Group Holding Limited will post 7.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Alibaba Group

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in BABA. Appaloosa LP lifted its position in shares of Alibaba Group by 18.4% during the 4th quarter. Appaloosa LP now owns 11,843,158 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $1,004,181,000 after acquiring an additional 1,843,158 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Alibaba Group during the 4th quarter valued at about $585,479,000. Bank of America Corp DE increased its holdings in Alibaba Group by 7.0% during the 4th quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 6,676,773 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $566,124,000 after acquiring an additional 438,537 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its position in Alibaba Group by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 5,093,828 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $431,906,000 after acquiring an additional 78,757 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Alibaba Group by 19.5% in the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 4,610,035 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $390,885,000 after purchasing an additional 752,275 shares in the last quarter. 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.