Legal & General Group Plc Decreases Stock Holdings in Alibaba Group Holding Limited $BABA

Key Points

• Legal & General Group Plc trimmed its Alibaba stake by 9.1% in the fourth quarter, selling 54,536 shares and ending with 543,026 shares valued at about $79.6 million.
• Other institutional investors have been active in BABA, with several hedge funds dramatically increasing or initiating positions. Overall, hedge funds and other institutions now own 13.47% of Alibaba’s shares.
• Wall Street sentiment remains constructive: Alibaba has a Moderate Buy consensus rating with an average price target of $188.76, while recent analyst moves included Barclays and Nomura raising targets.

Legal & General Group Plc decreased its position in Alibaba Group Holding Limited (NYSE:BABA - Free Report) by 9.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 543,026 shares of the specialty retailer's stock after selling 54,536 shares during the quarter. Legal & General Group Plc's holdings in Alibaba Group were worth $79,585,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of BABA. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. increased its position in shares of Alibaba Group by 7,680.3% in the fourth quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 6,014,147 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $881,554,000 after acquiring an additional 5,936,847 shares during the period. Capital World Investors increased its position in shares of Alibaba Group by 1,074.9% in the third quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 6,038,318 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $1,079,229,000 after acquiring an additional 5,524,354 shares during the period. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership purchased a new position in shares of Alibaba Group in the third quarter valued at about $290,208,000. Trivest Advisors Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Alibaba Group in the third quarter valued at about $202,126,000. Finally, Coatue Management LLC increased its position in shares of Alibaba Group by 130.1% in the third quarter. Coatue Management LLC now owns 1,996,593 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $356,851,000 after acquiring an additional 1,128,826 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 13.47% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have issued reports on BABA. Weiss Ratings restated a "hold (c+)" rating on shares of Alibaba Group in a research report on Wednesday. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Alibaba Group from $186.00 to $195.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 14th. Nomura boosted their price target on shares of Alibaba Group from $200.00 to $207.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 15th. Argus upgraded shares of Alibaba Group to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 24th. Finally, DZ Bank cut shares of Alibaba Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $135.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Friday, March 20th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have given a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $188.76.

Alibaba Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE BABA opened at $124.27 on Friday. Alibaba Group Holding Limited has a 1 year low of $103.71 and a 1 year high of $192.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 1.28 and a quick ratio of 1.28. The company's 50-day moving average is $130.81 and its 200 day moving average is $146.52. The stock has a market capitalization of $298.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.41, a P/E/G ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.50.

Alibaba Group (NYSE:BABA - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, March 31st. The specialty retailer reported $0.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. Alibaba Group had a net margin of 10.31% and a return on equity of 4.76%. The company had revenue of $35.30 billion for the quarter. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Alibaba Group Holding Limited will post 6.67 earnings per share for the current year.

Alibaba Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed an annual dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 11th will be issued a $1.05 dividend. This represents a yield of 72.0%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 11th. Alibaba Group's dividend payout ratio is 16.91%.

Key Alibaba Group News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Alibaba’s ecosystem is showing continued progress in AI and digital infrastructure, including reports that its Qwen model beat OpenAI and Google rivals in a coding ranking, and that the company is pushing new AI agent and embodied-AI initiatives. These headlines support the view that Alibaba is becoming a more credible AI platform play. Alibaba’s Qwen Beats OpenAI, Google in AI Coding Rank
• Positive Sentiment: Ant Group, Alibaba’s affiliate, is expanding blockchain-based lending tools and showcasing smart city and digital finance applications in Macau, highlighting additional growth avenues across fintech and cloud services. Exclusive: Ant Group-backed R25 launches emerging-market consumer credit vault
• Neutral Sentiment: Broker coverage remains constructive, with Alibaba reportedly holding a “Moderate Buy” consensus rating, which can help support sentiment but does not by itself change the investment thesis. Alibaba Group Holding Limited Given Consensus Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" by Brokerages
• Neutral Sentiment: Zacks articles note that BABA is trending with investors, suggesting elevated attention ahead of potential catalysts, though the coverage is more observational than fundamental. Here is What to Know Beyond Why Alibaba Group Holding Limited (BABA) is a Trending Stock
• Negative Sentiment: Some commentary says Alibaba is underperforming despite the broader AI boom, with investors concerned about costly cloud spending and margin pressure versus peers like Meta. That can weigh on the stock if sentiment shifts back toward profitability over growth. BABA vs. META: Which AI Data Center Giant Is the Better Bet?
• Negative Sentiment: One market note also highlighted that Alibaba shares have lagged other major Chinese tech names this year, reflecting ongoing skepticism around Chinese internet stocks despite AI enthusiasm. Here's why Alibaba, Tencent, Xiaomi stocks are falling amid the AI boom

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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