80,210 Shares of Alibaba Group Holding Limited $BABA Acquired by OPTIMAS CAPITAL Ltd

Key Points

• OPTIMAS CAPITAL acquired 80,210 Alibaba shares in the third quarter, valued at about $8.6 million; the holding represents 11.5% of its portfolio and is its second-largest position.
• Alibaba CEO Yongming Wu bought 350,000 shares for about $5.0 million, while CFO Hong Xu sold 103,046 shares to cover tax obligations on vested equity awards. Company insiders overall sold nearly 1 million shares in the past 90 days.
• Analysts give Alibaba a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an average price target of $182.89. In its latest reported quarter, revenue rose 8.6% year over year but earnings per share missed estimates.

OPTIMAS CAPITAL Ltd bought a new position in shares of Alibaba Group Holding Limited (NYSE:BABA - Free Report) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 80,210 shares of the specialty retailer's stock, valued at approximately $8,626,000. Alibaba Group accounts for 11.5% of OPTIMAS CAPITAL Ltd's investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest position.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Continuum Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Alibaba Group during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $28,000. GK Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Alibaba Group in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $32,000. Latitude Advisors LLC bought a new position in Alibaba Group in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $43,000. Global Assets Advisory LLC purchased a new position in Alibaba Group in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $56,000. Finally, Anchor Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Alibaba Group by 28.2% in the 1st quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 545 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $68,000 after buying an additional 120 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 13.47% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Hong Xu sold 103,046 shares of Alibaba Group stock in a transaction on Friday, September 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $13.68, for a total transaction of $1,409,669.28. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 406,450 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,560,236. This trade represents a 20.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, CEO Yongming Wu bought 350,000 shares of Alibaba Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 24th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $14.24 per share, with a total value of $4,984,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 1,364,418 shares of the company's stock, valued at $19,429,312.32. This represents a 34.50% increase in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 999,971 shares of company stock valued at $13,563,304 in the last ninety days. 12.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have issued reports on BABA. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Alibaba Group from $210.00 to $200.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, October 12th. Weiss Ratings raised Alibaba Group from a "hold (c-)" rating to a "hold (c)" rating in a report on Friday, October 2nd. Citigroup lifted their price target on Alibaba Group from $190.00 to $193.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 8th. Barclays boosted their price objective on Alibaba Group from $195.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, August 21st. Finally, Benchmark reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Alibaba Group in a report on Thursday, August 20th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $182.89.

Alibaba Group Price Performance

Alibaba Group stock traded up $1.17 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $109.24. 9,546,798 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,576,816. Alibaba Group Holding Limited has a 52 week low of $91.99 and a 52 week high of $181.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 1.36 and a current ratio of 1.36. The firm has a market cap of $271.76 billion, a PE ratio of 26.45, a PEG ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 0.44. The company's fifty day moving average is $108.28 and its 200-day moving average is $125.04.

Alibaba Group (NYSE:BABA - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, August 14th. The specialty retailer reported $1.26 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.94 by ($0.68). The firm had revenue of $39.64 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $39.52 billion. Alibaba Group had a net margin of 7.00% and a return on equity of 4.79%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $14.75 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Alibaba Group Holding Limited will post 5.76 EPS for the current year.

Alibaba Group Profile

Alibaba Group Holding Limited is a technology and commerce company founded in 1999 and headquartered in Hangzhou, China. It operates digital platforms that connect consumers, merchants, businesses and other participants in commerce.

Its businesses include China-focused marketplaces such as Taobao and Tmall, international platforms including AliExpress and Alibaba.com, and Alibaba Cloud, which provides cloud computing and related technology services. The group also has operations in areas such as logistics, local services and digital media.

Alibaba serves customers and businesses in China and across international markets.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.