HighTower Advisors LLC Has $88.72 Million Stake in Alibaba Group Holding Limited $BABA

Key Points

• HighTower Advisors LLC increased its Alibaba stake by 87.5% in the fourth quarter, ending with 605,243 shares valued at about $88.7 million.
• Institutional interest remains broad, with several firms adding to positions and 13.47% of Alibaba shares now held by institutional investors overall.
• Wall Street sentiment is still largely positive: Alibaba has a Moderate Buy consensus rating, with analysts’ average price target at $188.76, while recent commentary highlights cloud and AI growth as key drivers.

HighTower Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Alibaba Group Holding Limited (NYSE:BABA - Free Report) by 87.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 605,243 shares of the specialty retailer's stock after acquiring an additional 282,362 shares during the quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC's holdings in Alibaba Group were worth $88,717,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of BABA. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its position in shares of Alibaba Group by 40.4% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 3,411 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $289,000 after acquiring an additional 981 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Alibaba Group during the 1st quarter valued at $254,000. Bank of Nova Scotia lifted its position in shares of Alibaba Group by 313.0% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 21,778 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $2,470,000 after acquiring an additional 16,505 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Alibaba Group during the 2nd quarter valued at $1,613,000. Finally, Ieq Capital LLC lifted its position in shares of Alibaba Group by 51.9% during the 2nd quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 70,060 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $7,946,000 after acquiring an additional 23,925 shares during the period. 13.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on BABA. Nomura upped their target price on Alibaba Group from $200.00 to $207.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 15th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their target price on Alibaba Group from $225.00 to $212.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Alibaba Group from $200.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 14th. Erste Group Bank downgraded Alibaba Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. Finally, Susquehanna upped their price objective on Alibaba Group from $170.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a "positive" rating in a research report on Friday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $188.76.

Trending Headlines about Alibaba Group

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

• Positive Sentiment: Investor commentary remains upbeat on Alibaba’s cloud and AI businesses, with several articles highlighting accelerating cloud growth, triple-digit AI revenue gains, and the view that BABA may be evolving into a more compelling AI growth stock.
• Positive Sentiment: Recent bullish pieces argue the stock could be entering a “new era,” pointing to Alibaba’s large planned investment in cloud and AI infrastructure as a long-term growth catalyst.
• Neutral Sentiment: Alibaba continues to attract attention from traders and analysts, with multiple “buy now” and valuation-focused articles reflecting strong interest but no fresh fundamental catalyst.
• Neutral Sentiment: Broader Asia ADR trading was modestly weaker, which may have created some market pressure on Alibaba alongside other Chinese-listed names.
• Negative Sentiment: One recent article said BABA fell after heavy AI and cloud spending squeezed margins, reinforcing investor concern that the company is trading near-term profitability for long-term growth.
• Negative Sentiment: A separate analysis warned that while Alibaba’s cloud promise remains intact, the stock still looks expensive relative to the current earnings profile.

Alibaba Group Price Performance

Shares of BABA opened at $135.58 on Wednesday. Alibaba Group Holding Limited has a 12-month low of $103.71 and a 12-month high of $192.67. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $131.80 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $148.55. The company has a quick ratio of 1.33, a current ratio of 1.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. The stock has a market cap of $325.27 billion, a PE ratio of 22.26, a PEG ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.50.

Alibaba Group (NYSE:BABA - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, March 31st. The specialty retailer reported $0.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. Alibaba Group had a return on equity of 4.76% and a net margin of 10.31%.The business had revenue of $35.30 billion during the quarter. Analysts anticipate that Alibaba Group Holding Limited will post 6.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alibaba Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared an annual dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 11th will be paid a $1.05 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 11th. This represents a dividend yield of 72.0%. Alibaba Group's dividend payout ratio is presently 15.60%.

Alibaba Group 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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