Alibaba Group Holding Limited (NYSE:BABA) Shares Sold by Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD

Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD decreased its stake in Alibaba Group Holding Limited (NYSE:BABA) by 53.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,010,789 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 6,788,119 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD owned 0.25% of Alibaba Group worth $509,656,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Appaloosa LP grew its holdings in shares of Alibaba Group by 18.4% during the fourth 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. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Alibaba Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $585,479,000. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Alibaba Group by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 5,093,828 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $431,906,000 after buying an additional 78,757 shares during the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its position in Alibaba Group by 208.5% during the fourth quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 2,995,640 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $254,000,000 after buying an additional 2,024,640 shares during the period. Finally, North of South Capital LLP lifted its stake in Alibaba Group by 17.9% in the fourth quarter. North of South Capital LLP now owns 1,975,760 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $167,525,000 after buying an additional 300,432 shares during the last quarter. 13.47% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Alibaba Group Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of Alibaba Group stock opened at $119.16 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $126.60 and a two-hundred day moving average of $104.78. The stock has a market cap of $284.76 billion, a PE ratio of 17.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.61 and a beta of 0.24. The company has a current ratio of 1.48, a quick ratio of 1.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19. Alibaba Group Holding Limited has a 12-month low of $71.80 and a 12-month high of $148.43.

Alibaba Group (NYSE:BABA) last issued 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 firm had revenue of $38.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $38.19 billion. On average, research analysts anticipate that Alibaba Group Holding Limited will post 7.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein raised shares of Alibaba Group from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $104.00 to $165.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Alibaba Group from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $100.00 to $180.00 in a research note on Monday, February 24th. Arete Research upgraded shares of Alibaba Group to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on Alibaba Group from $110.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Alibaba Group from $125.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Fourteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $150.36.

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.