Alibaba Group (NYSE:BABA) Sees Large Volume Increase After Analyst Upgrade

Shares of Alibaba Group Holding Limited (NYSE:BABA - Get Free Report) saw an uptick in trading volume on Friday after Benchmark raised their price target on the stock from $118.00 to $190.00. Benchmark currently has a buy rating on the stock. 32,159,185 shares were traded during mid-day trading, an increase of 11% from the previous session's volume of 28,848,545 shares.The stock last traded at $143.23 and had previously closed at $135.97.

Several other brokerages also recently commented on BABA. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Alibaba Group from $117.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Alibaba Group from $130.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Alibaba Group from $133.00 to $138.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Mizuho upped their price target on shares of Alibaba Group from $92.00 to $113.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, Robert W. Baird upped their price target on shares of Alibaba Group from $110.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $131.93.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Alibaba Group

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of BABA. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Alibaba Group during the fourth quarter worth $585,479,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its position in shares of Alibaba Group by 1,392.6% during the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 6,125,542 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $650,043,000 after buying an additional 5,715,155 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its position in shares of Alibaba Group by 3,180.1% during the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 3,857,760 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $409,385,000 after buying an additional 3,740,150 shares during the period. Hhlr Advisors LTD. grew its holdings in Alibaba Group by 64.1% in the third quarter. Hhlr Advisors LTD. now owns 8,827,600 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $936,785,000 after purchasing an additional 3,448,152 shares during the period. Finally, FMR LLC grew its holdings in Alibaba Group by 454.2% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,611,571 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $383,260,000 after purchasing an additional 2,959,954 shares during the period. 13.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Alibaba Group Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 1.37 and a quick ratio of 1.37. The firm has a market capitalization of $341.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.14, a PEG ratio of 0.53 and a beta of 0.31. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $95.43 and its 200 day simple moving average is $92.88.

Alibaba Group (NYSE:BABA - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The specialty retailer reported $2.77 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $2.84 by ($0.07). The company had revenue of $38.38 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $38.19 billion. Alibaba Group had a return on equity of 12.28% and a net margin of 8.98%. On average, research analysts forecast that Alibaba Group Holding Limited will post 7.86 EPS for the current year.

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.