Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp Sells 500 Shares of Alibaba Group Holding Limited (NYSE:BABA)

Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp lessened its position in shares of Alibaba Group Holding Limited (NYSE:BABA) by 7.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 6,391 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 500 shares during the quarter. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp’s holdings in Alibaba Group were worth $541,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Alibaba Group by 21.1% during the fourth quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 155,440 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $13,180,000 after purchasing an additional 27,088 shares in the last quarter. Berkshire Asset Management LLC PA purchased a new position in Alibaba Group during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $911,000. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC increased its position in Alibaba Group by 131.2% in the fourth quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 74,807 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $6,343,000 after purchasing an additional 42,446 shares during the last quarter. Bailard Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Alibaba Group by 46.3% in the 4th quarter. Bailard Inc. now owns 10,245 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $869,000 after buying an additional 3,242 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Park Avenue Securities LLC increased its stake in Alibaba Group by 31.3% during the fourth quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 18,465 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $1,566,000 after acquiring an additional 4,397 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 13.47% of the company’s stock.

Alibaba Group Trading Down 6.4 %

Shares of Alibaba Group stock opened at $99.22 on Wednesday. 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 debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a quick ratio of 1.48 and a current ratio of 1.48. The company has a market cap of $235.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.61 and a beta of 0.24. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $126.20 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $104.40.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have issued reports on BABA. Morgan Stanley upgraded Alibaba Group from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $100.00 to $180.00 in a research report on Monday, February 24th. Mizuho upped their target price on Alibaba Group from $140.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, March 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Alibaba Group from $125.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Sanford C. Bernstein raised Alibaba Group from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their target price for the company from $104.00 to $165.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, Benchmark raised their price objective 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 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.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $150.36.

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.