Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. Acquires Shares of 6,086 Alibaba Group Holding Limited (NYSE:BABA)

Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Alibaba Group Holding Limited (NYSE:BABA) during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund acquired 6,086 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $516,000.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Gallagher Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Alibaba Group during the fourth quarter valued at about $295,000. Future Fund LLC increased its position in shares of Alibaba Group by 45.3% during the fourth quarter. Future Fund LLC now owns 11,230 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $952,000 after buying an additional 3,500 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank increased its position in shares of Alibaba Group by 29.6% during the fourth quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 18,589 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $1,576,000 after buying an additional 4,242 shares during the period. Jackson Hole Capital Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Alibaba Group by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Jackson Hole Capital Partners LLC now owns 17,768 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $1,507,000 after buying an additional 207 shares during the period. Finally, Amundi increased its position in shares of Alibaba Group by 80.0% during the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 646,058 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $54,069,000 after buying an additional 287,127 shares during the period. 13.47% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Alibaba Group Stock Down 1.5 %

Shares of NYSE BABA opened at $136.99 on Thursday. Alibaba Group Holding Limited has a one year low of $68.36 and a one year high of $145.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a current ratio of 1.48 and a quick ratio of 1.48. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $108.56 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $97.90. The stock has a market capitalization of $325.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.80, a PEG ratio of 0.61 and a beta of 0.28.

Alibaba Group (NYSE:BABA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The specialty retailer reported $2.77 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 the consensus estimate of $38.19 billion. As a group, analysts expect that Alibaba Group Holding Limited will post 7.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. StockNews.com upgraded Alibaba Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Bank of America upped their price target on Alibaba Group from $117.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Citigroup upped their price target on Alibaba Group from $133.00 to $138.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Benchmark upped 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. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of Alibaba Group from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $104.00 to $165.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Fifteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Alibaba Group has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $144.07.

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.