Platinum Investment Management Ltd. Trims Stake in Alibaba Group Holding Limited (NYSE:BABA)

Platinum Investment Management Ltd. lessened its holdings in Alibaba Group Holding Limited (NYSE:BABA) by 86.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 28,845 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 177,873 shares during the period. Platinum Investment Management Ltd.’s holdings in Alibaba Group were worth $2,446,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in BABA. Sanders Capital LLC increased its holdings in Alibaba Group by 0.3% during the third quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 18,460,434 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $1,959,021,000 after buying an additional 60,667 shares during the period. Appaloosa LP increased its position in shares of Alibaba Group by 18.4% in the 4th quarter. Appaloosa LP now owns 11,843,158 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $1,004,181,000 after acquiring an additional 1,843,158 shares during the period. Hhlr Advisors LTD. increased its position in shares of Alibaba Group by 64.1% in the 3rd quarter. Hhlr Advisors LTD. now owns 8,827,600 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $936,785,000 after acquiring an additional 3,448,152 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Alibaba Group by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 5,093,828 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $431,906,000 after purchasing an additional 78,757 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its holdings in Alibaba Group by 3,180.1% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 3,857,760 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $409,385,000 after purchasing an additional 3,740,150 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 13.47% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently issued reports on BABA. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased 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. Bank of America increased their target price on shares of Alibaba Group from $117.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Arete Research raised shares of Alibaba Group to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on shares of Alibaba Group from $110.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein raised shares of Alibaba Group from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $104.00 to $165.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Fifteen analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $144.07.

Alibaba Group Stock Down 3.3 %

BABA stock opened at $142.67 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $338.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.62, a PEG ratio of 0.61 and a beta of 0.27. The company has a current ratio of 1.48, a quick ratio of 1.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19. Alibaba Group Holding Limited has a 12 month low of $68.36 and a 12 month high of $148.43. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $113.14 and a two-hundred day moving average of $99.73.

Alibaba Group (NYSE:BABA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The specialty retailer reported $2.77 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.84 by ($0.07). The business 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, analysts forecast that Alibaba Group Holding Limited will post 7.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.