Alibaba Group Holding Limited $BABA Stock Sold by Fisher Asset Management LLC

Key Points

• Fisher Asset Management trimmed its Alibaba stake by 0.8%, selling 42,699 shares in the third quarter; it still held about 5.05 million shares, valued at roughly $543.5 million.
• Analysts have a “Moderate Buy” consensus and an average price target of $183.53, although Piper Sandler downgraded the stock to Hold and some analysts lowered their targets.
• Alibaba’s latest quarterly revenue rose 8.6% year over year and slightly beat expectations, but EPS missed consensus. Reported U.S. chip-access restrictions also pose a potential risk to Alibaba Cloud’s computing capacity.

Fisher Asset Management LLC trimmed its stake in shares of Alibaba Group Holding Limited (NYSE:BABA - Free Report) by 0.8% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,053,719 shares of the specialty retailer's stock after selling 42,699 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC owned about 0.20% of Alibaba Group worth $543,477,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Nykredit A S acquired a new stake in Alibaba Group in the second quarter valued at $50,417,000. Pale Fire Capital SE acquired a new position in shares of Alibaba Group during the 2nd quarter worth $49,810,000. Sei Investments Co. raised its stake in shares of Alibaba Group by 63.5% during the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 573,409 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $71,940,000 after buying an additional 222,666 shares during the last quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Alibaba Group by 347.6% during the 1st quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC now owns 249,736 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $30,463,000 after buying an additional 193,947 shares during the last quarter. Finally, TT International Asset Management LTD boosted its position in shares of Alibaba Group by 2,775.0% in the 3rd quarter. TT International Asset Management LTD now owns 185,036 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $19,899,000 after buying an additional 178,600 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 13.47% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $192.00 price objective on shares of Alibaba Group in a research note on Thursday, October 8th. Susquehanna lifted their target price on shares of Alibaba Group from $185.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a "positive" rating in a research report on Friday, August 28th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Alibaba Group from $195.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, August 21st. Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on shares of Alibaba Group from $164.00 to $160.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 21st. Finally, Piper Sandler cut shares of Alibaba Group to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 8th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have given a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $183.53.

Alibaba Group Price Performance

BABA opened at $94.47 on Friday. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $107.21 and its 200 day simple moving average is $123.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 1.36 and a current ratio of 1.36. Alibaba Group Holding Limited has a 1 year low of $91.99 and a 1 year high of $181.10. The stock 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 (NYSE:BABA - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Friday, August 14th. The specialty retailer reported $1.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.94 by ($0.68). The company had revenue of $39.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $39.52 billion. Alibaba Group had a net margin of 7.00% and a return on equity of 4.79%. Alibaba Group's revenue for the quarter was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $14.75 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Alibaba Group Holding Limited will post 5.89 EPS for the current year.

Alibaba Group News Summary

Here's some of the latest news about BABA:

• Positive Sentiment: DZ Bank upgraded Alibaba from “hold” to “buy” and set a $140 price target, signaling substantial potential upside from the reference price. DZ Bank rating
• 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

Insider Activity at Alibaba Group

In related news, insider Fang Jiang sold 885,272 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $13.55, for a total value of $11,995,435.60. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 4,679,097 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $63,401,764.35. This trade represents a 15.91% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Joseph C. Tsai bought 720,000 shares of Alibaba Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 24th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $14.29 per share, for a total transaction of $10,288,800.00. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 114,979,168 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,643,052,310.72. The trade was a 0.63% increase in their position. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Over the last three months, insiders sold 999,971 shares of company stock worth $13,563,304. 12.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

About Alibaba Group

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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