Alibaba Group (NYSE:BABA) Stock Price Up 2.1% - Should You Buy?

Alibaba Group Holding Limited (NYSE:BABA - Get Free Report)'s share price rose 2.1% on Friday . The stock traded as high as $111.52 and last traded at $109.03. Approximately 17,805,254 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 14% from the average daily volume of 20,607,737 shares. The stock had previously closed at $106.75.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have commented on BABA shares. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on Alibaba Group from $110.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised shares of Alibaba Group from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $104.00 to $165.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. StockNews.com raised shares of Alibaba Group from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. 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 report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, Mizuho raised Alibaba Group to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday. Fourteen research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $150.36.

Alibaba Group Stock Up 5.3 %

The stock has a market cap of $277.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.61 and a beta of 0.24. The company's fifty day moving average price is $126.90 and its 200-day moving average price is $104.59. 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 announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The specialty retailer reported $2.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.84 by ($0.07). Alibaba Group had a net margin of 12.29% and a return on equity of 12.89%. The business had revenue of $38.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $38.19 billion. Equities analysts forecast that Alibaba Group Holding Limited will post 7.86 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Alibaba Group

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Alibaba Group during the fourth quarter valued at $585,479,000. Renaissance Technologies LLC boosted its position in shares of Alibaba Group by 208.5% in the 4th quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 2,995,640 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $254,000,000 after purchasing an additional 2,024,640 shares in the last quarter. Appaloosa LP grew its stake in shares of Alibaba Group by 18.4% during the fourth quarter. Appaloosa LP now owns 11,843,158 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $1,004,181,000 after acquiring an additional 1,843,158 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its stake in Alibaba Group by 95.4% during the 4th quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 2,112,187 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $179,087,000 after purchasing an additional 1,030,999 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Polunin Capital Partners Ltd raised its stake in Alibaba Group by 218.1% in the 1st quarter. Polunin Capital Partners Ltd now owns 1,325,120 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $175,221,000 after acquiring an additional 908,544 shares during the last quarter. 13.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.