Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. Lowers Stock Position in Alibaba Group Holding Limited $BABA

Key Points

• Crossmark Global Holdings cut its Alibaba stake by 12% in the fourth quarter, selling 19,085 shares and ending with 140,025 shares valued at about $20.5 million.
• Analyst sentiment remains broadly positive: BNP Paribas initiated coverage with an Outperform rating and a $209 target, while the overall consensus is still a Moderate Buy with a $188.75 price target.
• News around Alibaba’s cloud and AI expansion remains a major theme, but rising AI spending and lower earnings estimates from Erste Group suggest possible near-term margin pressure even as long-term growth prospects improve.

Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. decreased its position in Alibaba Group Holding Limited (NYSE:BABA - Free Report) by 12.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 140,025 shares of the specialty retailer's stock after selling 19,085 shares during the period. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc.'s holdings in Alibaba Group were worth $20,525,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Ethic Inc. increased its stake in shares of Alibaba Group by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Ethic Inc. now owns 28,392 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $4,162,000 after purchasing an additional 347 shares in the last quarter. Costello Asset Management INC purchased a new position in Alibaba Group during the fourth quarter worth approximately $34,000. RD Finance Ltd acquired a new stake in Alibaba Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $3,643,000. Koshinski Asset Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Alibaba Group by 5.9% in the fourth quarter. Koshinski Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,200 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $322,000 after buying an additional 122 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Maxi Investments CY Ltd raised its stake in shares of Alibaba Group by 292.0% during the 4th quarter. Maxi Investments CY Ltd now owns 78,400 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $11,492,000 after buying an additional 58,400 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 13.47% of the company's stock.

Key Headlines Impacting Alibaba Group

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

• Positive Sentiment: BNP Paribas initiated coverage on Alibaba with an Outperform rating and a $209 price target, citing potential acceleration in cloud revenue growth. BNP Paribas Initiates Coverage of Alibaba Group Holding (BABA), Cites Potential Cloud Revenue Growth Acceleration
• Positive Sentiment: Another report highlighted Alibaba’s expanding cloud and AI footprint, including new data center regions and rising capital spending to support AI demand, which supports the long-term growth story. Alibaba Cloud And AI Expansion Reshapes Long Term Investor Trade Offs
• Positive Sentiment: Barclays and Erste Group updates also kept focus on Alibaba’s earnings outlook, with Erste trimming estimates only modestly, suggesting analysts still see meaningful profit potential. Wall Street Analysts Think Alibaba (BABA) Is a Good Investment: Is It?
• Neutral Sentiment: Alibaba said it is not involved in the reported U.S. probe into alleged Nvidia chip smuggling via Thailand, but the headlines may keep investors cautious until more details emerge. US suspects Nvidia chips smuggled to Alibaba via Thailand, Bloomberg News reports
• Neutral Sentiment: Reports that AI costs are rising for Alibaba and Tencent point to margin pressure in the near term, even as AI investment could support future growth. Tencent Earnings Growth Seen Slowing As AI Investments Double
• Negative Sentiment: Erste Group lowered its FY2026 and FY2027 earnings estimates for Alibaba, which can weigh on sentiment by signaling slightly weaker profit expectations. Alibaba Group Stock Performance

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Alibaba Group from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research note on Friday, February 27th. Arete Research upgraded shares of Alibaba Group from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $190.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Argus upgraded shares of Alibaba Group to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 24th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price objective on Alibaba Group from $225.00 to $212.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 19th. Finally, Freedom Capital raised Alibaba Group from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. 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 issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $188.75.

Alibaba Group Price Performance

BABA stock opened at $139.97 on Friday. Alibaba Group Holding Limited has a 52-week low of $103.71 and a 52-week high of $192.67. The company has a quick ratio of 1.33, a current ratio of 1.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. The stock has a market cap of $335.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 0.50. The business has a fifty day moving average of $132.13 and a two-hundred day moving average of $150.58.

Alibaba Group (NYSE:BABA - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Saturday, February 14th. The specialty retailer reported $0.13 earnings per share for the quarter. The business had revenue of $40.71 billion during the quarter. Alibaba Group had a return on equity of 7.43% and a net margin of 9.12%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Alibaba Group Holding Limited will post 4.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Alibaba Group Company Profile

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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