Alibaba Group Holding Limited (NYSE:BABA) Stock Position Lowered by Jefferies Financial Group Inc.

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. cut its stake in shares of Alibaba Group Holding Limited (NYSE:BABA - Free Report) by 93.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,583 shares of the specialty retailer's stock after selling 35,834 shares during the period. Jefferies Financial Group Inc.'s holdings in Alibaba Group were worth $219,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Alibaba Group during the fourth quarter worth $585,479,000. Renaissance Technologies LLC raised its stake in Alibaba Group by 208.5% in the fourth quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 2,995,640 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $254,000,000 after buying an additional 2,024,640 shares in the last quarter. Appaloosa LP grew its stake in shares of Alibaba Group by 18.4% in the 4th quarter. Appaloosa LP now owns 11,843,158 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $1,004,181,000 after buying an additional 1,843,158 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can increased its holdings in shares of Alibaba Group by 92.7% in the 4th quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 1,147,636 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $97,308,000 after purchasing an additional 552,010 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Clear Street Derivatives LLC bought a new stake in shares of Alibaba Group in the fourth quarter worth $46,690,000. 13.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Alibaba Group Stock Up 1.8%

BABA stock traded up $2.19 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $125.15. 11,688,448 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 20,300,479. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $123.10 and its 200 day simple moving average is $107.51. Alibaba Group Holding Limited has a 1-year low of $71.80 and a 1-year high of $148.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a quick ratio of 1.48 and a current ratio of 1.48. The company has a market cap of $298.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.61 and a beta of 0.24.

Alibaba Group (NYSE:BABA - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The specialty retailer reported $2.77 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $2.84 by ($0.07). The firm had revenue of $38.38 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $38.19 billion. Alibaba Group had a net margin of 12.29% and a return on equity of 12.89%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Alibaba Group Holding Limited will post 7.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Alibaba Group Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a -- dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 12th will be paid a $0.95 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 12th. This represents a dividend yield of 0.8%. Alibaba Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 13.15%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the stock. StockNews.com cut shares of Alibaba Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Alibaba Group from $125.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Sanford C. Bernstein raised Alibaba Group from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $104.00 to $165.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Benchmark dropped their price objective on Alibaba Group from $190.00 to $176.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Finally, Barclays boosted their price target on Alibaba Group from $130.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Alibaba Group presently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $154.21.

Alibaba Group Company Profile

Alibaba Group Holding Limited, through its subsidiaries, provides technology infrastructure and marketing reach to help merchants, brands, retailers, and other businesses to engage with their users and customers in the People's Republic of China and internationally. The company operates through seven segments: China Commerce, International Commerce, Local Consumer Services, Cainiao, Cloud, Digital Media and Entertainment, and Innovation Initiatives and Others.