Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC Boosts Holdings in Alibaba Group Holding Limited (NYSE:BABA)

Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC increased its position in shares of Alibaba Group Holding Limited (NYSE:BABA) by 113.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 43,000 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after buying an additional 22,900 shares during the quarter. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC’s holdings in Alibaba Group were worth $3,646,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Alibaba Group by 21.1% in the 4th quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 155,440 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $13,180,000 after purchasing an additional 27,088 shares during the last quarter. Berkshire Asset Management LLC PA acquired a new position in Alibaba Group in the fourth quarter valued at about $911,000. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC boosted its stake in Alibaba Group by 131.2% during the fourth quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 74,807 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $6,343,000 after buying an additional 42,446 shares during the period. Bailard Inc. increased its position 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 acquiring an additional 3,242 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Aspex Management HK Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Alibaba Group in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $115,995,000. 13.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently weighed in on BABA. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on shares of Alibaba Group from $110.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised Alibaba Group from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $104.00 to $165.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Arete Research raised Alibaba Group to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Alibaba Group from $125.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, Bank of America increased their price target on shares of Alibaba Group from $117.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $144.07.

Alibaba Group Trading Up 2.6 %

Shares of NYSE:BABA opened at $135.69 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $322.39 billion, a PE ratio of 19.61, a P/E/G ratio of 0.61 and a beta of 0.28. The company’s 50 day moving average is $120.65 and its two-hundred day moving average is $102.09. Alibaba Group Holding Limited has a 52 week low of $68.36 and a 52 week high of $148.43. 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 (NYSE:BABA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The specialty retailer reported $2.77 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.84 by ($0.07). The business had revenue of $38.38 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $38.19 billion. Alibaba Group had a net margin of 12.29% and a return on equity of 12.89%. Equities analysts predict that Alibaba Group Holding Limited will post 7.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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.