Vontobel Holding Ltd. Increases Position in Alibaba Group Holding Limited (NYSE:BABA)

Vontobel Holding Ltd. raised its position in Alibaba Group Holding Limited (NYSE:BABA) by 2.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 254,212 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,046 shares during the quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd.’s holdings in Alibaba Group were worth $21,555,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. AMF Tjanstepension AB increased its position in shares of Alibaba Group by 6.9% during the third quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 2,789,883 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $296,062,000 after acquiring an additional 178,999 shares during the period. Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Alibaba Group by 4.3% during the third quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,400 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $361,000 after acquiring an additional 139 shares during the period. Global Retirement Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Alibaba Group by 66.6% during the third quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 3,978 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $422,000 after acquiring an additional 1,590 shares during the period. Bleakley Financial Group LLC increased its position in shares of Alibaba Group by 6.5% during the third quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 11,056 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $1,173,000 after acquiring an additional 673 shares during the period. Finally, Secure Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Alibaba Group during the third quarter worth $218,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 13.47% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Citigroup upped their price objective on Alibaba Group from $133.00 to $138.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 10th. StockNews.com lowered Alibaba Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday. Barclays dropped their target price on Alibaba Group from $137.00 to $130.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on Alibaba Group from $88.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Mizuho increased their target price on Alibaba Group from $92.00 to $113.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $115.86.

Alibaba Group Stock Performance

NYSE BABA opened at $124.73 on Friday. 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 $68.36 and a 1 year high of $126.80. The company has a market capitalization of $296.71 billion, a PE ratio of 25.30, a P/E/G ratio of 0.42 and a beta of 0.31. The company has a fifty day moving average of $90.47 and a two-hundred day moving average of $90.70.

Alibaba Group (NYSE:BABA) last announced its earnings results on Friday, November 15th. The specialty retailer reported $15.06 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.87 by $13.19. Alibaba Group had a net margin of 8.98% and a return on equity of 12.28%. The business had revenue of $236.50 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $239.45 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.82 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Alibaba Group Holding Limited will post 7.86 earnings per share for the current year.

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.