Alibaba Group (NYSE:BABA) Stock Price Down 2.1% – Should You Sell?

Shares of Alibaba Group Holding Limited (NYSE:BABA) fell 2.1% during trading on Friday . The stock traded as low as $131.40 and last traded at $132.75. 5,566,554 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 71% from the average session volume of 19,043,919 shares. The stock had previously closed at $135.63.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BABA has been the topic of a number of research reports. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Alibaba Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley raised Alibaba Group from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $100.00 to $180.00 in a research note on Monday, February 24th. Mizuho raised their price objective on Alibaba Group from $140.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday. Bank of America boosted their target price on Alibaba Group from $117.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on Alibaba Group from $130.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $148.14.

Alibaba Group Price Performance

The firm has a fifty day moving average of $120.65 and a two-hundred day moving average of $102.09. The stock has a market capitalization of $314.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.13, a P/E/G ratio of 0.61 and a beta of 0.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a current ratio of 1.48 and a quick ratio of 1.48.

Alibaba Group (NYSE:BABA) last posted its quarterly 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $38.19 billion. On average, analysts predict that Alibaba Group Holding Limited will post 7.86 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Alibaba Group

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Alibaba Group by 21.1% in the fourth quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 155,440 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $13,180,000 after acquiring an additional 27,088 shares in the last quarter. Berkshire Asset Management LLC PA acquired a new stake in shares of Alibaba Group in the 4th quarter worth $911,000. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC grew its stake in Alibaba Group by 131.2% during the 4th quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 74,807 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $6,343,000 after buying an additional 42,446 shares during the last quarter. Bailard Inc. increased its position in Alibaba Group by 46.3% during the 4th quarter. Bailard Inc. now owns 10,245 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $869,000 after buying an additional 3,242 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Aspex Management HK Ltd purchased a new stake in Alibaba Group in the third quarter valued at about $115,995,000. Hedge funds and other 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.