Taikang Asset Management Hong Kong Co Ltd Acquires 120,000 Shares of Alibaba Group Holding Limited (NYSE:BABA)

Taikang Asset Management Hong Kong Co Ltd lifted its position in Alibaba Group Holding Limited (NYSE:BABA - Free Report) by 19.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 730,000 shares of the specialty retailer's stock after buying an additional 120,000 shares during the quarter. Alibaba Group comprises approximately 14.5% of Taikang Asset Management Hong Kong Co Ltd's holdings, making the stock its biggest position. Taikang Asset Management Hong Kong Co Ltd's holdings in Alibaba Group were worth $63,320,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Morgan Stanley boosted its position in Alibaba Group by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 12,815,514 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $1,128,919,000 after purchasing an additional 142,563 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its position in Alibaba Group by 461.2% during the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 4,215,884 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $365,686,000 after purchasing an additional 3,464,723 shares during the period. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in Alibaba Group by 108,264.6% during the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,711,488 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $326,945,000 after purchasing an additional 3,708,063 shares during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Alibaba Group by 9.4% during the second quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 3,611,817 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $301,044,000 after purchasing an additional 310,713 shares during the period. Finally, Clearbridge Investments LLC boosted its position in Alibaba Group by 6.9% during the first quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 3,117,112 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $339,142,000 after purchasing an additional 202,226 shares during the period. 14.22% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have commented on BABA shares. Susquehanna reduced their price objective on shares of Alibaba Group from $160.00 to $150.00 and set a "positive" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, November 22nd. Benchmark dropped their target price on Alibaba Group from $150.00 to $128.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 9th. Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on Alibaba Group from $95.00 to $90.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 19th. Bank of America dropped their target price on Alibaba Group from $142.00 to $136.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 10th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on Alibaba Group from $125.00 to $110.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 9th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Alibaba Group presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $119.80.

Alibaba Group Price Performance

Alibaba Group stock traded down $0.61 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $71.85. The company's stock had a trading volume of 18,824,232 shares, compared to its average volume of 22,371,202. Alibaba Group Holding Limited has a 52 week low of $66.63 and a 52 week high of $109.81. The company has a current ratio of 1.94, a quick ratio of 1.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $73.39 and a 200-day moving average price of $82.89. The stock has a market cap of $182.32 billion, a PE ratio of 9.95 and a beta of 0.47.

Alibaba Group (NYSE:BABA - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, November 16th. The specialty retailer reported $15.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $15.28 by $0.35. The firm had revenue of $224.79 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $224.48 billion. Alibaba Group had a return on equity of 12.83% and a net margin of 14.49%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.50 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Alibaba Group Holding Limited will post 7.94 EPS for the current year.

Alibaba Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a -- dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 18th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 21st were issued a dividend of $1.00 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, December 20th. Alibaba Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 13.57%.

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.

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