Alibaba Group’s (BABA) “Buy” Rating Reaffirmed at Benchmark

Alibaba Group (NYSE:BABA)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reaffirmed by stock analysts at Benchmark in a research note issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $118.00 price target on the specialty retailer’s stock. Benchmark’s price target would indicate a potential upside of 34.38% from the stock’s previous close.

BABA has been the topic of several other reports. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and set a $90.00 price objective on shares of Alibaba Group in a report on Friday, August 23rd. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Alibaba Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Loop Capital reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $115.00 price objective on shares of Alibaba Group in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $116.00 target price on shares of Alibaba Group in a report on Friday, July 26th. Finally, Susquehanna lowered their price target on shares of Alibaba Group from $135.00 to $130.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 19th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $114.53.

Alibaba Group Price Performance

Shares of Alibaba Group stock traded down $2.77 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $87.81. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 10,810,686 shares, compared to its average volume of 17,604,277. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a quick ratio of 1.41 and a current ratio of 1.41. Alibaba Group has a 12-month low of $66.63 and a 12-month high of $117.82. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $98.04 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $85.47. The company has a market cap of $210.25 billion, a PE ratio of 22.99, a PEG ratio of 0.41 and a beta of 0.35.

Alibaba Group (NYSE:BABA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 15th. The specialty retailer reported $16.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.87 by $14.57. Alibaba Group had a net margin of 7.31% and a return on equity of 12.08%. The firm had revenue of $243.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $248.32 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.47 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Alibaba Group will post 8.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Alibaba Group

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of BABA. Concentric Capital Strategies LP increased its position in Alibaba Group by 310.7% during the 3rd quarter. Concentric Capital Strategies LP now owns 80,077 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $8,498,000 after buying an additional 60,579 shares in the last quarter. Aspex Management HK Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Alibaba Group during the third quarter valued at about $115,995,000. Benjamin Edwards Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Alibaba Group in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $508,000. Bamco Inc. NY boosted its stake in Alibaba Group by 6.4% in the 3rd quarter. Bamco Inc. NY now owns 1,434,625 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $152,242,000 after purchasing an additional 86,056 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Erste Asset Management GmbH purchased a new stake in Alibaba Group during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $9,496,000. 13.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Alibaba Group

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.