Alibaba Group Holding Limited Plans -- Dividend of $0.95 (NYSE:BABA)

Alibaba Group Holding Limited (NYSE:BABA - Get Free Report) announced a -- dividend on Friday, May 16th, Wall Street Journal reports. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 12th will be given a dividend of 0.95 per share by the specialty retailer on Thursday, July 10th. This represents a yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 12th.

Alibaba Group has a dividend payout ratio of 8.9% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect Alibaba Group to earn $9.29 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.00 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 10.8%.

Alibaba Group Stock Down 0.4%

BABA stock traded down $0.53 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $123.37. The company had a trading volume of 19,213,545 shares, compared to its average volume of 20,534,168. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a quick ratio of 1.48 and a current ratio of 1.48. Alibaba Group has a fifty-two week low of $71.80 and a fifty-two week high of $148.43. The company has a market capitalization of $294.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.61 and a beta of 0.24. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $123.70 and a 200 day simple moving average of $107.05.

Alibaba Group (NYSE:BABA - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The specialty retailer reported $2.77 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.84 by ($0.07). Alibaba Group had a return on equity of 12.89% and a net margin of 12.29%. The firm had revenue of $38.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $38.19 billion. Analysts forecast that Alibaba Group will post 7.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Alibaba Group from $125.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Citigroup decreased their target price on Alibaba Group from $170.00 to $169.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded Alibaba Group from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and upped their price target for the stock from $104.00 to $165.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Morgan Stanley set a $180.00 price target on Alibaba Group in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Bank of America upped their price target on Alibaba Group from $117.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Fifteen analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $149.86.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Alibaba Group

A hedge fund recently raised its stake in Alibaba Group stock. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its stake in Alibaba Group Holding Limited (NYSE:BABA - Free Report) by 40.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 3,411 shares of the specialty retailer's stock after buying an additional 981 shares during the period. Brighton Jones LLC's holdings in Alibaba Group were worth $289,000 as of its most recent SEC filing. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 13.47% of the company's stock.

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.

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