Alibaba Group (NYSE:BABA) Trading Down 2.6% – Here’s Why

Alibaba Group Holding Limited (NYSE:BABA)’s share price fell 2.6% during trading on Tuesday . The company traded as low as $142.50 and last traded at $143.72. 11,122,880 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 41% from the average session volume of 18,872,373 shares. The stock had previously closed at $147.57.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have commented on BABA. Benchmark raised their price objective on Alibaba Group from $118.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Citigroup lifted their target price on Alibaba Group from $133.00 to $138.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Bank of America lifted 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. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on Alibaba Group from $110.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Alibaba Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Fifteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Alibaba Group has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $144.07.

Alibaba Group Stock Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $340.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.61 and a beta of 0.27. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $114.33 and a 200-day simple moving average of $100.04. 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 issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The specialty retailer reported $2.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.84 by ($0.07). The firm had revenue of $38.38 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $38.19 billion. Alibaba Group had a net margin of 12.29% and a return on equity of 12.89%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Alibaba Group Holding Limited will post 7.86 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Alibaba Group

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Sanders Capital LLC raised its stake in shares of Alibaba Group by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 18,460,434 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $1,959,021,000 after purchasing an additional 60,667 shares during the period. Appaloosa LP raised its stake in shares of Alibaba Group by 18.4% during the 4th quarter. Appaloosa LP now owns 11,843,158 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $1,004,181,000 after purchasing an additional 1,843,158 shares during the period. Hhlr Advisors LTD. raised its stake in shares of Alibaba Group by 64.1% during the 3rd quarter. Hhlr Advisors LTD. now owns 8,827,600 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $936,785,000 after purchasing an additional 3,448,152 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Alibaba Group during the 4th quarter valued at $585,479,000. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE raised its stake in shares of Alibaba Group by 7.0% during the 4th quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 6,676,773 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $566,124,000 after purchasing an additional 438,537 shares during the period. 13.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.