Alibaba Group (NYSE:BABA) Upgraded to Outperform at Sanford C. Bernstein

Alibaba Group (NYSE:BABA) was upgraded by investment analysts at Sanford C. Bernstein from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report released on Tuesday,Briefing.com Automated Import reports.

BABA has been the topic of a number of other research reports. StockNews.com upgraded Alibaba Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Mizuho boosted their target price on Alibaba Group from $92.00 to $113.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Benchmark raised their price target on Alibaba Group from $118.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Alibaba Group from $125.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Alibaba Group from $133.00 to $138.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Fifteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $138.36.

Alibaba Group Price Performance

NYSE:BABA traded up $5.00 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $134.04. The stock had a trading volume of 36,394,646 shares, compared to its average volume of 31,609,166. Alibaba Group has a one year low of $68.36 and a one year high of $145.30. The stock has a market capitalization of $318.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.37, a P/E/G ratio of 0.61 and a beta of 0.31. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $96.29 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $93.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a quick ratio of 1.48 and a current ratio of 1.48.

Alibaba Group (NYSE:BABA) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The specialty retailer reported $2.77 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.84 by ($0.07). Alibaba Group had a net margin of 12.29% and a return on equity of 12.89%. The company had revenue of $38.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $38.19 billion. As a group, analysts expect that Alibaba Group will post 7.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Alibaba Group

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in BABA. Concord Wealth Partners raised its stake in Alibaba Group by 155.0% during the third quarter. Concord Wealth Partners now owns 255 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 155 shares during the last quarter. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. bought a new position in shares of Alibaba Group during the fourth quarter valued at $31,000. Sierra Ocean LLC purchased a new position in shares of Alibaba Group in the 4th quarter worth about $32,000. Highline Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in Alibaba Group in the 3rd quarter worth about $36,000. Finally, Assetmark Inc. boosted its position in shares of Alibaba Group by 225.4% during the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 397 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 275 shares during the last quarter. 13.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.