Madison Investment Advisors LLC Takes Position in Alibaba Group Holding Limited (NYSE:BABA)

Madison Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Alibaba Group Holding Limited (NYSE:BABA) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 44,641 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $3,785,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of BABA. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Alibaba Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Sierra Ocean LLC purchased a new stake in Alibaba Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Kieckhefer Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Alibaba Group in the fourth quarter worth $55,000. Vision Financial Markets LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Alibaba Group in the fourth quarter worth $55,000. Finally, Golden State Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Alibaba Group in the fourth quarter worth $60,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 13.47% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Benchmark increased their price objective on shares of Alibaba Group from $118.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Citigroup increased their price objective 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. Arete Research raised shares of Alibaba Group to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Robert W. Baird raised their price target 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. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Alibaba Group from $125.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Fifteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $144.07.

Alibaba Group Trading Down 1.3 %

Shares of NYSE:BABA opened at $135.16 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $321.14 billion, a PE ratio of 19.53, a P/E/G ratio of 0.61 and a beta of 0.27. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $116.49 and its 200 day moving average price is $100.66. Alibaba Group Holding Limited has a fifty-two week low of $68.36 and a fifty-two week high of $148.43. The company has a quick ratio of 1.48, a current ratio of 1.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19.

Alibaba Group (NYSE:BABA) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The specialty retailer reported $2.77 EPS 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 business had revenue of $38.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $38.19 billion. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Alibaba Group Holding Limited will post 7.86 earnings per share for the current 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.