Alibaba Group Holding Limited $BABA Position Cut by Pictet Asset Management Holding SA

Pictet Asset Management Holding SA lessened its holdings in Alibaba Group Holding Limited (NYSE:BABA) by 66.9% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 132,074 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 266,542 shares during the quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA’s holdings in Alibaba Group were worth $14,203,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Angeles Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Alibaba Group by 0.3% during the second quarter. Angeles Wealth Management LLC now owns 30,421 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $2,952,000 after buying an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Hardin Capital Partners LLC raised its stake in Alibaba Group by 1.5% in the 2nd quarter. Hardin Capital Partners LLC now owns 6,945 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $670,000 after purchasing an additional 104 shares during the last quarter. Magnus Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in Alibaba Group by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Magnus Financial Group LLC now owns 10,851 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $1,167,000 after purchasing an additional 105 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Alliance LLC lifted its holdings in Alibaba Group by 1.3% in the 1st quarter. Wealth Alliance LLC now owns 8,510 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $1,068,000 after purchasing an additional 108 shares in the last quarter. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Alibaba Group by 3.7% during the 1st quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,078 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $386,000 after purchasing an additional 111 shares during the last quarter. 13.47% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Alibaba Group News Summary

These are some of the BABA news items that stood out recently:

• Neutral Sentiment: Alibaba is pursuing a Hong Kong listing for semiconductor subsidiary T-Head. A separate listing could help showcase or fund its domestic chip business, though its prospects are complicated by the same U.S. chip-access concerns affecting the shares. Alibaba and Tencent shares fall on report of possible U.S. curbs
• Negative Sentiment: Reports that the U.S. Commerce Department is preparing rules to restrict Chinese AI firms from remotely accessing advanced chips hosted in overseas data centers raised concerns about Alibaba Cloud’s ability to obtain computing capacity. Alibaba risks a cloud setback from new U.S. AI chip rules
• Negative Sentiment: Additional scrutiny centers on reported links between Alibaba and Singapore-based Megaspeed International, an Nvidia partner. Allegations that financing through Singapore and Malaysia units was tied to acquiring Nvidia servers could heighten regulatory and reputational risks; the claims remain allegations. Report on Alibaba-Megaspeed financing links

Insider Activity at Alibaba Group

In related news, CEO Yongming Wu purchased 350,000 shares of Alibaba Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 24th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $14.24 per share, with a total value of $4,984,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 1,364,418 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,429,312.32. The trade was a 34.50% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, General Counsel Siying Yu sold 6,764 shares of Alibaba Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $13.58, for a total transaction of $91,855.12. Following the sale, the general counsel owned 613,965 shares in the company, valued at $8,337,644.70. This represents a 1.09% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders have sold a total of 999,971 shares of company stock valued at $13,563,304 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 12.50% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently issued reports on BABA shares. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $192.00 target price on shares of Alibaba Group in a research report on Thursday, October 8th. DZ Bank raised Alibaba Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $140.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Thursday. Barclays raised their price target on Alibaba Group from $195.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 21st. Sanford C. Bernstein restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $165.00 price target on shares of Alibaba Group in a report on Monday, September 7th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of Alibaba Group from $210.00 to $200.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, October 12th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have given a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $183.53.

Alibaba Group Trading Down 6.9%

NYSE BABA opened at $94.47 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $235.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.87, a PEG ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 0.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 1.36 and a current ratio of 1.36. Alibaba Group Holding Limited has a one year low of $91.99 and a one year high of $181.10. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $107.21 and its 200 day moving average price is $123.61.

Alibaba Group (NYSE:BABA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, August 14th. The specialty retailer reported $1.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.94 by ($0.68). The business had revenue of $39.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $39.52 billion. Alibaba Group had a return on equity of 4.79% and a net margin of 7.00%. Alibaba Group’s revenue was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $14.75 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Alibaba Group Holding Limited will post 5.89 EPS for the current year.

Alibaba Group Profile

Alibaba Group Holding Limited is a technology and commerce company founded in 1999 and headquartered in Hangzhou, China. It operates digital platforms that connect consumers, merchants, businesses and other participants in commerce. Its businesses include China-focused marketplaces such as Taobao and Tmall, international platforms including AliExpress and Alibaba.com, and Alibaba Cloud, which provides cloud computing and related technology services. The group also has operations in areas such as logistics, local services and digital media.