Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. Decreases Stake in Alibaba Group Holding Limited $BABA

Key Points

• Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. reduced its position in Alibaba by 17.4% in Q4, selling 12,263 shares and finishing the quarter with 58,315 shares valued at about $8.55 million.
• Several large institutions piled into BABA: Capital World Investors raised its stake by 1,074.9% to 6,038,318 shares (~$1.08 billion), and firms including Artisan, Trivest, Coatue and Altimeter established or increased multi‑hundred‑million dollar positions.
• Analyst views are mixed — the consensus is a Moderate Buy with an average target of $188.75, but recent actions range from Nomura raising its target to $237 to Zacks downgrading the stock to a strong sell; shares trade near $131.52 with a market cap around $314.6 billion.

Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. lowered its position in Alibaba Group Holding Limited (NYSE:BABA - Free Report) by 17.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 58,315 shares of the specialty retailer's stock after selling 12,263 shares during the period. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc.'s holdings in Alibaba Group were worth $8,548,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of BABA. Capital World Investors raised its holdings in shares of Alibaba Group by 1,074.9% during the 3rd quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 6,038,318 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $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 during the 3rd quarter worth $290,208,000. Trivest Advisors Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Alibaba Group during the 3rd quarter worth $202,126,000. Coatue Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Alibaba Group by 130.1% during the 3rd quarter. Coatue Management LLC now owns 1,996,593 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $356,851,000 after acquiring an additional 1,128,826 shares during the period. Finally, Altimeter Capital Management LP purchased a new position in shares of Alibaba Group during the 3rd quarter worth $173,207,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 13.47% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. Nomura lifted their price target on Alibaba Group from $193.00 to $237.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, January 26th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price target on Alibaba Group from $225.00 to $212.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 19th. Mizuho reduced their price target on Alibaba Group from $195.00 to $190.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on Alibaba Group from $215.00 to $205.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 20th. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded Alibaba Group from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $188.75.

Alibaba Group Stock Down 0.3%

Shares of NYSE:BABA opened at $131.52 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $133.05 and a 200 day moving average price of $151.35. The company has a current ratio of 1.33, a quick ratio of 1.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. The company has a market capitalization of $314.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.81, a PEG ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 0.50. Alibaba Group Holding Limited has a 12-month low of $103.71 and a 12-month high of $192.67.

Alibaba Group (NYSE:BABA - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Saturday, February 14th. The specialty retailer reported $0.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The firm 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%. Sell-side analysts expect that Alibaba Group Holding Limited will post 4.33 EPS 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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