Alibaba Group (NYSE:BABA) Shares Gap Up – What’s Next?

Alibaba Group Holding Limited (NYSE:BABA)’s share price 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.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on shares of Alibaba Group from $110.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Mizuho boosted their price target on shares of Alibaba Group from $92.00 to $113.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Arete Research raised shares of Alibaba Group to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. Barclays lifted their price objective on Alibaba Group from $130.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Finally, Benchmark upped their target price on Alibaba Group from $118.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Fifteen analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Alibaba Group has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $144.07.

Alibaba Group Trading Up 4.8 %

The company has a current ratio of 1.48, a quick ratio of 1.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $106.42 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $97.25. The stock has a market capitalization of $330.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.61 and a beta of 0.28.

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

Institutional Trading of Alibaba Group

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. purchased a new stake in Alibaba Group during the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. Sierra Ocean LLC bought a new position in shares of Alibaba Group during the fourth quarter valued at about $32,000. Assetmark Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Alibaba Group by 225.4% during the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 397 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 275 shares during the period. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL grew its stake in shares of Alibaba Group by 59.0% in the fourth quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL now owns 539 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Redwood Park Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Alibaba Group during the 4th quarter valued at about $52,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 13.47% of the company’s stock.

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.