Alibaba Group (NYSE:BABA) Shares Down 2.1% – Here’s Why

Shares of Alibaba Group Holding Limited (NYSE:BABA) dropped 2.1% during trading on Friday . The stock traded as low as $99.73 and last traded at $100.55. Approximately 12,681,319 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 33% from the average daily volume of 18,824,598 shares. The stock had previously closed at $102.74.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on BABA. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Alibaba Group from $133.00 to $138.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 10th. StockNews.com cut shares of Alibaba Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, December 14th. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Alibaba Group from $106.00 to $124.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Benchmark restated a “buy” rating and issued a $118.00 price objective on shares of Alibaba Group in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Mizuho boosted their price objective on shares of Alibaba Group from $92.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $115.13.

Alibaba Group Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $235.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.02, a P/E/G ratio of 0.41 and a beta of 0.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 1.37 and a quick ratio of 1.37. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $86.27 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $88.62.

Alibaba Group (NYSE:BABA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, November 15th. The specialty retailer reported $15.06 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $239.45 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.82 earnings per share. Alibaba Group’s revenue was up 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Alibaba Group Holding Limited will post 7.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Alibaba Group

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Sanders Capital LLC increased its position in shares of Alibaba Group by 0.3% during the third quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 18,460,434 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $1,959,021,000 after acquiring an additional 60,667 shares in the last quarter. Hhlr Advisors LTD. grew its position in Alibaba Group by 64.1% in the third quarter. Hhlr Advisors LTD. now owns 8,827,600 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $936,785,000 after purchasing an additional 3,448,152 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its position in Alibaba Group by 1,392.6% in the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 6,125,542 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $650,043,000 after purchasing an additional 5,715,155 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its holdings in shares of Alibaba Group by 3,180.1% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 3,857,760 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $409,385,000 after purchasing an additional 3,740,150 shares during the period. Finally, FMR LLC raised its stake in Alibaba Group by 454.2% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,611,571 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $383,260,000 after buying an additional 2,959,954 shares during the period. 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.