Alibaba Group (NYSE:BABA) Trading Up 3.8% - Here's Why

Alibaba Group Holding Limited (NYSE:BABA - Get Free Report)'s stock price traded up 3.8% during trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $107.51 and last traded at $104.16. 25,161,060 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 23% from the average session volume of 20,519,730 shares. The stock had previously closed at $100.38.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on BABA. Benchmark reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $118.00 price target on shares of Alibaba Group in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on shares of Alibaba Group from $88.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Mizuho boosted their price objective on shares of Alibaba Group from $92.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Alibaba Group from $137.00 to $130.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price target on Alibaba Group from $133.00 to $138.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, January 10th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Alibaba Group has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $115.86.

Alibaba Group Price Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $281.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.01, a PEG ratio of 0.42 and a beta of 0.31. The company has a fifty day moving average of $89.09 and a 200 day moving average of $90.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 1.37 and a quick ratio of 1.37.

Alibaba Group (NYSE:BABA - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, November 15th. The specialty retailer reported $15.06 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.87 by $13.19. The company had revenue of $236.50 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $239.45 billion. Alibaba Group had a net margin of 8.98% and a return on equity of 12.28%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.82 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Alibaba Group Holding Limited will post 7.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Alibaba Group

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. AMF Tjanstepension AB boosted its position in shares of Alibaba Group by 6.9% during the third quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 2,789,883 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $296,062,000 after buying an additional 178,999 shares during the last quarter. Koshinski Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in Alibaba Group during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $213,000. Procyon Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Alibaba Group by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. Procyon Advisors LLC now owns 20,527 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $2,178,000 after buying an additional 413 shares in the last quarter. NBC Securities Inc. lifted its position in Alibaba Group by 6.2% in the third quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 8,513 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $903,000 after buying an additional 494 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Magnus Financial Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Alibaba Group by 5.0% during the third quarter. Magnus Financial Group LLC now owns 9,538 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $1,012,000 after buying an additional 451 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 13.47% of the company's stock.

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.