Raymond James Trust N.A. Decreases Stock Holdings in Alibaba Group Holding Limited (NYSE:BABA)

Raymond James Trust N.A. cut its holdings in Alibaba Group Holding Limited (NYSE:BABA) by 13.7% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,562 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 726 shares during the period. Raymond James Trust N.A.’s holdings in Alibaba Group were worth $484,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in BABA. Advisors Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in Alibaba Group by 17.6% during the first quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,387 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $245,000 after buying an additional 506 shares during the period. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Alibaba Group by 46.7% during the 1st quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 22,946 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $1,660,000 after purchasing an additional 7,307 shares during the period. iA Global Asset Management Inc. raised its position in Alibaba Group by 27.5% in the 1st quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc. now owns 62,125 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $4,495,000 after purchasing an additional 13,394 shares during the period. Virtu Financial LLC lifted its stake in Alibaba Group by 19.7% in the first quarter. Virtu Financial LLC now owns 59,195 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $4,283,000 after purchasing an additional 9,730 shares during the last quarter. Finally, LRI Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of Alibaba Group during the first quarter valued at approximately $175,000. 13.47% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BABA has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Macquarie raised Alibaba Group from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $145.00 price target for the company in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Barclays decreased their target price on Alibaba Group from $137.00 to $130.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Alibaba Group from $100.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 16th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Alibaba Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Finally, Benchmark restated a “buy” rating and issued a $118.00 target price on shares of Alibaba Group in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $114.07.

Alibaba Group Stock Performance

Shares of BABA stock opened at $85.18 on Wednesday. Alibaba Group Holding Limited has a 12-month low of $66.63 and a 12-month high of $117.82. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $98.47 and its 200-day simple moving average is $86.00. The company has a current ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The company has a market cap of $203.95 billion, a PE ratio of 17.28, a PEG ratio of 0.41 and a beta of 0.35.

Alibaba Group (NYSE:BABA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, November 15th. The specialty retailer reported $15.06 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.87 by $13.19. Alibaba Group had a return on equity of 12.28% and a net margin of 8.98%. The company had revenue of $236.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $239.45 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.82 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Alibaba Group Holding Limited will post 8.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.