Milestone Asset Management LLC Purchases 4,568 Shares of Alibaba Group Holding Limited $BABA

Key Points

• Milestone Asset Management increased its Alibaba position by 69.9% in the third quarter, purchasing 4,568 additional shares and bringing its holdings to 11,100 shares valued at approximately $1.19 million. Institutional investors and hedge funds collectively own 13.47% of Alibaba.
• Alibaba’s latest quarterly results showed 8.6% year-over-year revenue growth to $39.64 billion, but EPS of $1.26 missed the $1.94 analyst consensus. Shares opened at $111.13, below both their 50-day and 200-day moving averages.
• Analyst sentiment remains generally positive, with a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and a $182.89 target price, while Alibaba’s AI and cloud businesses are viewed as potential growth drivers. However, analysts also cite rising AI investment, capital spending, weaker traditional e-commerce growth and profitability concerns as risks.

Milestone Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Alibaba Group Holding Limited (NYSE:BABA - Free Report) by 69.9% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 11,100 shares of the specialty retailer's stock after buying an additional 4,568 shares during the period. Milestone Asset Management LLC's holdings in Alibaba Group were worth $1,194,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Hoey Investments Inc. raised its position in Alibaba Group by 95.2% during the 1st quarter. Hoey Investments Inc. now owns 205 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Alibaba Group in the 2nd quarter worth $28,000. GK Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Alibaba Group in the third quarter valued at about $32,000. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Alibaba Group by 15,000.0% in the first quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 302 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Global Assets Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Alibaba Group in the first quarter valued at about $56,000. 13.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Alibaba Group Trading Down 0.0%

Shares of BABA stock opened at $111.13 on Friday. The business's fifty day moving average price is $114.74 and its 200 day moving average price is $119.13. The firm has a market capitalization of $276.46 billion, a PE ratio of 48.76, a P/E/G ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 0.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 1.36 and a quick ratio of 1.36. Alibaba Group Holding Limited has a 1-year low of $91.99 and a 1-year high of $182.50.

Alibaba Group (NYSE:BABA - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Friday, August 14th. The specialty retailer reported $1.26 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.94 by ($0.68). Alibaba Group had a net margin of 7.00% and a return on equity of 4.79%. The business had revenue of $39.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $39.52 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $14.75 EPS. Alibaba Group's revenue was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Alibaba Group Holding Limited will post 5.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Key Headlines Impacting Alibaba Group

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

• Positive Sentiment: Bernstein identified Alibaba as one of its top Chinese AI investment ideas, supporting the view that the company’s cloud and artificial-intelligence businesses could become major growth drivers. Bernstein Says Tencent and Alibaba Stocks Are Its Top AI Plays in China
• Positive Sentiment: China approved Alibaba’s AI models for use in Apple Intelligence and other Apple handsets, creating a high-profile commercial distribution channel for its technology. Alibaba AI models cleared for use in Apple Intelligence in China
• Positive Sentiment: Alibaba is preparing for a potentially record-setting Singles’ Day event, with about one million brands participating. Strong promotional activity could support transaction volume and consumer engagement. Alibaba sets sights on record-breaking Singles’ Day
• Positive Sentiment: Erste Group Bank raised its earnings estimates for Alibaba, while JPMorgan maintained an Overweight rating and a $200 target, indicating substantial potential upside despite lowering its target from $210. JPMorgan sees upside for Alibaba
• Positive Sentiment: Alibaba’s Qwen AI smart glasses broaden its consumer-hardware strategy and position the company to compete with Meta in emerging AI-enabled devices. Alibaba Unveils New Qwen AI Smart Glasses
• Neutral Sentiment: Recent comparisons with Coupang and MercadoLibre describe Alibaba as a value-oriented global e-commerce and cloud leader, but highlight faster growth from its international peers. Alibaba vs. Coupang
• Negative Sentiment: A Seeking Alpha analysis noted that revenue growth is increasingly driven by Quick Commerce and Cloud, while traditional e-commerce is declining. AI investment is increasing cash burn, and rising capital-expenditure expectations could delay the recovery in earnings and margins. Alibaba cloud investment analysis
• Negative Sentiment: The broader selloff reflects investor concerns about weaker earnings, profitability versus growth priorities, regulatory risk, and disappointing recent results, including an EPS miss despite revenue growth. Asian ADR weakness also added market pressure. Asian ADRs fall sharply

Insider Buying and Selling at Alibaba Group

In related news, Director Joseph C. Tsai purchased 720,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 24th. The stock was acquired 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. This trade represents a 0.63% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Hong Xu sold 103,046 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $13.68, for a total transaction of $1,409,669.28. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 406,450 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,560,236. This trade represents a 20.23% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 999,971 shares of company stock worth $13,563,304. Company insiders own 12.50% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on BABA. Piper Sandler lowered shares of Alibaba Group to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 8th. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Alibaba Group from $195.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, August 21st. Jefferies Financial Group restated a "buy" rating and issued a $192.00 price objective on shares of Alibaba Group in a research report on Thursday, October 8th. Weiss Ratings raised Alibaba Group from a "hold (c-)" rating to a "hold (c)" rating in a report on Friday, October 2nd. Finally, Nomura dropped their target price on Alibaba Group from $207.00 to $178.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, June 25th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $182.89.

Alibaba Group Profile

Alibaba Group Holding Limited is a technology and commerce company founded in 1999 and headquartered in Hangzhou, China. It operates a broad digital ecosystem connecting consumers, merchants, brands and businesses through online marketplaces and related services.

The company's China commerce businesses include Taobao and Tmall, while its international commerce operations include Alibaba.com, AliExpress, Lazada and Trendyol. Alibaba also provides logistics services through Cainiao, consumer services through platforms such as Ele.me and Freshippo, and digital media and entertainment offerings.

Alibaba Cloud provides cloud computing, data management, artificial intelligence and other technology services to businesses and organizations.

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