Alibaba Group (NYSE:BABA) Shares Gap Up – Here’s What Happened

Shares of Alibaba Group Holding Limited (NYSE:BABA) gapped up prior to trading on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $132.54, but opened at $138.16. Alibaba Group shares last traded at $136.96, with a volume of 7,264,932 shares traded.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BABA has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley upgraded Alibaba Group from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $100.00 to $180.00 in a research note on Monday, February 24th. Arete Research upgraded Alibaba Group to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Alibaba Group from $133.00 to $138.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on shares of Alibaba Group from $110.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein raised shares of Alibaba Group from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $104.00 to $165.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Fifteen research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Alibaba Group has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $144.07.

Alibaba Group Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of $325.48 billion, a PE ratio of 19.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.61 and a beta of 0.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a current ratio of 1.48 and a quick ratio of 1.48. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $108.56 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $97.90.

Alibaba Group (NYSE:BABA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The specialty retailer reported $2.77 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.84 by ($0.07). The business had revenue of $38.38 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $38.19 billion. Alibaba Group had a net margin of 12.29% and a return on equity of 12.89%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Alibaba Group Holding Limited will post 7.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Alibaba Group

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in Alibaba Group by 21.1% in the fourth quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 155,440 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $13,180,000 after buying an additional 27,088 shares in the last quarter. Berkshire Asset Management LLC PA bought a new stake in Alibaba Group during the fourth quarter worth about $911,000. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC grew its holdings in Alibaba Group by 131.2% in the fourth quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 74,807 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $6,343,000 after purchasing an additional 42,446 shares during the period. Bailard Inc. increased its stake in shares of Alibaba Group by 46.3% during the fourth quarter. Bailard Inc. now owns 10,245 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $869,000 after purchasing an additional 3,242 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its holdings in shares of Alibaba Group by 7,734.1% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 269,805 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $28,632,000 after purchasing an additional 266,361 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 13.47% of the company’s stock.

Alibaba Group Company 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.