Hardy Reed LLC Acquires New Shares in Alibaba Group Holding Limited (NYSE:BABA)

Hardy Reed LLC bought a new position in Alibaba Group Holding Limited (NYSE:BABA) in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor bought 1,936 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $205,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Primecap Management Co. CA boosted its position in shares of Alibaba Group by 5.2% in the second quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 21,870,987 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $1,574,711,000 after acquiring an additional 1,074,175 shares during the period. Sanders Capital LLC lifted its stake in Alibaba Group by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 18,460,434 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $1,959,021,000 after purchasing an additional 60,667 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 5,715,155 shares during the period. FMR LLC grew its position in shares of Alibaba Group by 454.2% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,611,571 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $383,260,000 after purchasing an additional 2,959,954 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AMF Tjanstepension AB increased its holdings in shares of Alibaba Group by 6.9% in the third quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 2,789,883 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $296,062,000 after purchasing an additional 178,999 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 13.47% of the company’s stock.

Alibaba Group Price Performance

BABA opened at $85.18 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 1.37 and a quick ratio of 1.37. Alibaba Group Holding Limited has a 1 year low of $66.63 and a 1 year high of $117.82. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $98.47 and its 200 day simple moving average is $86.00. The firm has a market cap of $203.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.28, a PEG ratio of 0.42 and a beta of 0.35.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BABA has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Barclays dropped their price objective on Alibaba Group from $137.00 to $130.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Alibaba Group from $100.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 16th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Alibaba Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on shares of Alibaba Group from $88.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Macquarie raised shares of Alibaba Group from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $145.00 price target on the stock in a report on Monday, October 7th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $114.07.

Alibaba Group 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.