Alibaba Group (NYSE:BABA) Shares Up 1% - Time to Buy?

Key Points

• Alibaba shares rose 1% in midday trading, with volume below average, as investors reacted to recent company and analyst updates.
• Alibaba announced a multi-year UEFA partnership, including exclusive AI and cloud services and a six-year AI deal that will bring 360-degree replay technology to major events, highlighting its push to monetize AI and cloud capabilities.
• Analyst sentiment remains generally positive, with several firms raising price targets and the stock carrying a consensus Moderate Buy rating and average price target of $188.76.

Shares of Alibaba Group Holding Limited (NYSE:BABA - Get Free Report) rose 1% during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $126.35 and last traded at $125.4880. Approximately 8,631,622 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 27% from the average daily volume of 11,832,521 shares. The stock had previously closed at $124.22.

Key Alibaba Group News

Here are the key news stories impacting Alibaba Group this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Alibaba announced it will become UEFA’s exclusive AI and cloud partner, a multi-year deal that could boost the company’s international cloud visibility and showcase its AI-powered media and event technology. Alibaba becomes UEFA’s exclusive AI and cloud partner
• Positive Sentiment: The company also signed a six-year AI agreement with UEFA that will bring 360-degree replay technology to major events, adding another signal that Alibaba is deepening monetization of its AI capabilities. Alibaba Group signs 6-year AI deal with Uefa, will bring 360 replay tech to major events
• Positive Sentiment: Alibaba continues to highlight its AI and cloud ambitions through product and engineering efforts, including work to optimize Android 16 for RISC-V chips, which may appeal to investors looking for long-term platform and infrastructure growth. Alibaba optimizes Android 16 for RISC-V chips
• Neutral Sentiment: Alibaba granted new employee share awards under its 2024 plan, a routine retention and incentive move that is not likely to materially change near-term fundamentals. Alibaba Grants New Employee Share Awards Under 2024 Plan
• Neutral Sentiment: Broader China headlines point to improving luxury demand and a cooling Meituan subsidy war, which may support sentiment toward Chinese consumer and internet names, including Alibaba, but do not directly change its outlook. China Luxury Demand Rebound Sends Fresh Signal To Investors Meituan Loss Shrinks To 6.5 Billion Yuan As Subsidy War Cools

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on BABA shares. Mizuho raised their price objective on Alibaba Group from $190.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 14th. Barclays increased their price target on Alibaba Group from $186.00 to $195.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 14th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Alibaba Group from $180.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, May 14th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Alibaba Group from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, May 23rd. Finally, Zacks Research lowered shares of Alibaba Group from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $188.76.

Alibaba Group Price Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 1.28, a current ratio of 1.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. The firm has a market capitalization of $301.06 billion, a PE ratio of 20.61, a PEG ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 0.48. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $130.81 and a 200 day moving average price of $146.39.

Alibaba Group (NYSE:BABA - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, March 31st. The specialty retailer reported $0.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The firm had revenue of $35.30 billion for the quarter. Alibaba Group had a net margin of 10.31% and a return on equity of 4.76%. Equities analysts forecast that Alibaba Group Holding Limited will post 6.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alibaba Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared an annual dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, June 11th will be given a dividend of $1.05 per share. This represents a dividend yield of 72.0%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 11th. Alibaba Group's dividend payout ratio is 15.60%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Capital World Investors lifted its holdings in shares of Alibaba Group by 7.7% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 6,505,165 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $953,527,000 after acquiring an additional 466,847 shares during the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. raised its position in Alibaba Group by 7,680.3% in the fourth quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 6,014,147 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $881,554,000 after purchasing an additional 5,936,847 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its position in Alibaba Group by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 5,335,894 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $782,135,000 after purchasing an additional 42,297 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Alibaba Group during the fourth quarter worth $594,477,000. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. boosted its position in shares of Alibaba Group by 17.7% during the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,987,539 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $533,964,000 after buying an additional 448,484 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 13.47% of the company's stock.

About Alibaba Group

Alibaba Group Holding Limited is a Chinese multinational conglomerate founded in 1999 in Hangzhou, China, by Jack Ma and a group of co‑founders. The company built its business around internet-based commerce and related services and has grown into one of the largest e-commerce and technology companies in the world. Alibaba completed a high‑profile initial public offering on the New York Stock Exchange in 2014.

The company operates a portfolio of online marketplaces and platforms serving different customer segments: Alibaba.com for global and domestic B2B trade, Taobao for consumer-to-consumer shopping, and Tmall for brand and retailer storefronts targeted at Chinese consumers.

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