Alibaba Group (NYSE:BABA) Shares Down 1.2% – Here’s What Happened

Alibaba Group Holding Limited (NYSE:BABA) shares fell 1.2% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $85.68 and last traded at $85.77. 5,887,876 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 67% from the average session volume of 17,620,453 shares. The stock had previously closed at $86.77.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have issued reports on BABA. Truist Financial dropped their price target on Alibaba Group from $110.00 to $100.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their price target on Alibaba Group from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Bank of America raised their price objective on Alibaba Group from $106.00 to $124.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Morgan Stanley restated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $90.00 price objective on shares of Alibaba Group in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Finally, Loop Capital restated a “buy” rating and issued a $115.00 price objective on shares of Alibaba Group in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Alibaba Group presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $114.07.

Alibaba Group Price Performance

The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $98.45 and its 200-day simple moving average is $85.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 1.37 and a quick ratio of 1.41. The stock has a market capitalization of $205.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.40, a P/E/G ratio of 0.43 and a beta of 0.35.

Alibaba Group (NYSE:BABA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, November 15th. The specialty retailer reported $15.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.87 by $13.19. The business had revenue of $236.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $239.45 billion. Alibaba Group had a return on equity of 12.28% and a net margin of 8.98%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.82 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Alibaba Group Holding Limited will post 8.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co increased its position in shares of Alibaba Group by 462.5% in the first quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 169,220 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $12,275,000 after purchasing an additional 139,134 shares during the period. Generate Investment Management Ltd bought a new position in shares of Alibaba Group in the third quarter worth $12,656,000. SRN Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Alibaba Group by 76.7% in the first quarter. SRN Advisors LLC now owns 22,259 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $1,611,000 after purchasing an additional 9,663 shares during the period. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV increased its position in shares of Alibaba Group by 63.9% in the third quarter. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV now owns 28,716 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $3,047,000 after purchasing an additional 11,192 shares during the period. Finally, Handelsbanken Fonder AB grew its position in Alibaba Group by 6.5% in the third quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 822,904 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $87,327,000 after acquiring an additional 50,000 shares during the last quarter. 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.