Alibaba Group Holding Limited $BABA Holdings Cut by Pictet Asset Management Holding SA

Key Points

• Pictet Asset Management cut its Alibaba stake by 66.9% in the third quarter, selling 266,542 shares and retaining 132,074 shares valued at about $14.2 million.
• Institutional investors made mixed moves: some funds initiated or increased holdings, while hedge funds and other institutions collectively owned 13.47% of Alibaba’s stock.
• Alibaba’s analyst consensus remained “Moderate Buy”, with a $183.53 average price target, though recent ratings and price targets included reductions. The company’s latest quarterly EPS missed estimates, despite revenue slightly exceeding expectations and rising 8.6% year over year.

Pictet Asset Management Holding SA trimmed its position in Alibaba Group Holding Limited (NYSE:BABA - Free Report) by 66.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 132,074 shares of the specialty retailer's stock after selling 266,542 shares during the quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA's holdings in Alibaba Group were worth $14,203,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Verus Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Alibaba Group during the 3rd quarter worth $417,000. Abacus Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Alibaba Group during the third quarter worth $204,000. OPTIMAS CAPITAL Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Alibaba Group in the third quarter valued at $8,626,000. All Stars Investment Ltd grew its stake in shares of Alibaba Group by 67.2% in the third quarter. All Stars Investment Ltd now owns 11,200 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $1,204,000 after buying an additional 4,500 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Alps Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Alibaba Group by 53.6% in the 3rd quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. now owns 15,577 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $1,675,000 after buying an additional 5,437 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 13.47% of the company's stock.

Latest Alibaba Group News

Investors following BABA have been watching these news items:

• Neutral Sentiment: Alibaba is pursuing a Hong Kong listing for semiconductor subsidiary T-Head. A separate listing could help showcase or fund its domestic chip business, though its prospects are complicated by the same U.S. chip-access concerns affecting the shares. Alibaba and Tencent shares fall on report of possible U.S. curbs
• Negative Sentiment: Reports that the U.S. Commerce Department is preparing rules to restrict Chinese AI firms from remotely accessing advanced chips hosted in overseas data centers raised concerns about Alibaba Cloud’s ability to obtain computing capacity. Alibaba risks a cloud setback from new U.S. AI chip rules
• Negative Sentiment: Additional scrutiny centers on reported links between Alibaba and Singapore-based Megaspeed International, an Nvidia partner. Allegations that financing through Singapore and Malaysia units was tied to acquiring Nvidia servers could heighten regulatory and reputational risks; the claims remain allegations. Report on Alibaba-Megaspeed financing links

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on BABA. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Alibaba Group from a "hold (c-)" rating to a "hold (c)" rating in a research report on Friday, October 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Alibaba Group from $210.00 to $200.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, October 12th. Piper Sandler cut Alibaba Group to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 8th. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $165.00 price target on shares of Alibaba Group in a research report on Monday, September 7th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lowered their price objective on Alibaba Group from $164.00 to $160.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 21st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Alibaba Group currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $183.53.

Insider Transactions at Alibaba Group

In other Alibaba Group news, Director Joseph Tsai bought 720,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, August 24th. The shares were bought at an average price of $14.29 per share, for a total transaction of $10,288,800.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 114,979,168 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,643,052,310.72. This trade represents a 0.63% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Hong Xu sold 103,046 shares of Alibaba Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $13.68, for a total value of $1,409,669.28. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 406,450 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,560,236. This trade represents a 20.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders have sold 999,971 shares of company stock valued at $13,563,304 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 12.50% of the company's stock.

Alibaba Group Stock Performance

NYSE BABA opened at $94.47 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $107.21 and a two-hundred day moving average of $123.61. The company has a market capitalization of $235.03 billion, a PE ratio of 22.87, a P/E/G ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 0.44. Alibaba Group Holding Limited has a 1 year low of $91.99 and a 1 year high of $181.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 1.36 and a quick ratio of 1.36.

Alibaba Group (NYSE:BABA - Get Free Report) last released 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). Alibaba Group had a net margin of 7.00% and a return on equity of 4.79%. The business had revenue of $39.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $39.52 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $14.75 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Alibaba Group Holding Limited will post 5.89 earnings per share 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.

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