Man Group plc Buys 45,232 Shares of Alibaba Group Holding Limited (NYSE:BABA)

Man Group plc lifted its holdings in Alibaba Group Holding Limited (NYSE:BABA - Free Report) by 2.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,897,326 shares of the specialty retailer's stock after purchasing an additional 45,232 shares during the quarter. Alibaba Group comprises about 0.4% of Man Group plc's portfolio, making the stock its 25th biggest position. Man Group plc owned approximately 0.08% of Alibaba Group worth $160,874,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. OCONNOR A Distinct Business Unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its stake in shares of Alibaba Group by 7,756.4% in the 4th quarter. OCONNOR A Distinct Business Unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 196,410 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $16,654,000 after purchasing an additional 193,910 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its holdings in Alibaba Group by 11.9% in the fourth quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 1,012,429 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $85,835,000 after acquiring an additional 107,914 shares during the last quarter. Mmbg Investment Advisors CO. lifted its holdings in Alibaba Group by 44.9% in the fourth quarter. Mmbg Investment Advisors CO. now owns 65,705 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $5,571,000 after acquiring an additional 20,355 shares during the last quarter. Moore Capital Management LP acquired a new position in Alibaba Group during the fourth quarter worth $2,417,000. Finally, LRI Investments LLC lifted its stake in Alibaba Group by 19.9% during the fourth quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 1,712 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $145,000 after purchasing an additional 284 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 13.47% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently commented on the company. Morgan Stanley raised Alibaba Group from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and increased their target price for the company from $100.00 to $180.00 in a report on Monday, February 24th. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on Alibaba Group from $110.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Mizuho raised Alibaba Group to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, April 18th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised Alibaba Group from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and increased their target price for the company from $104.00 to $165.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, Bank of America raised their price objective on Alibaba Group from $117.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Fourteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $150.36.

Alibaba Group Stock Performance

Shares of BABA stock opened at $131.70 on Wednesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $124.03 and a 200 day moving average price of $106.70. The stock has a market cap of $314.49 billion, a PE ratio of 19.03, a P/E/G ratio of 0.61 and a beta of 0.24. 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.

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

About Alibaba Group

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.

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