Alibaba Group (NYSE:BABA) Shares Gap Down – Here’s What Happened

Alibaba Group Holding Limited (NYSE:BABA)’s stock price gapped down before the market opened on Friday . The stock had previously closed at $129.33, but opened at $117.57. Alibaba Group shares last traded at $117.66, with a volume of 12,869,710 shares traded.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BABA has been the topic of several research reports. Morgan Stanley upgraded Alibaba Group from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $100.00 to $180.00 in a research note on Monday, February 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Alibaba Group from $125.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Alibaba Group from $130.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded Alibaba Group from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $104.00 to $165.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, Mizuho raised their target price on Alibaba Group from $140.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, March 28th. Fifteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Alibaba Group presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $148.14.

Alibaba Group Stock Performance

The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $125.77 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $104.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a current ratio of 1.48 and a quick ratio of 1.48. The company has a market capitalization of $276.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.61 and a beta of 0.24.

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of BABA. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Alibaba Group in the 4th quarter valued at $585,479,000. Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its position in Alibaba Group by 208.5% in the fourth quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 2,995,640 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $254,000,000 after purchasing an additional 2,024,640 shares during the period. Appaloosa LP raised its holdings in Alibaba Group by 18.4% during the 4th quarter. Appaloosa LP now owns 11,843,158 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $1,004,181,000 after purchasing an additional 1,843,158 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its position in Alibaba Group by 95.4% during the 4th quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 2,112,187 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $179,087,000 after purchasing an additional 1,030,999 shares during the period. Finally, Voloridge Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Alibaba Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $73,727,000. Institutional investors 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.