Alibaba Group (NYSE:BABA) Trading 9.3% Higher Following Analyst Upgrade

Alibaba Group Holding Limited (NYSE:BABA - Get Free Report)'s share price was up 9.3% during mid-day trading on Thursday after Benchmark raised their price target on the stock from $118.00 to $190.00. Benchmark currently has a buy rating on the stock. Alibaba Group traded as high as $144.51 and last traded at $137.53. Approximately 68,377,350 shares were traded during mid-day trading, an increase of 151% from the average daily volume of 27,286,682 shares. The stock had previously closed at $125.79.

BABA has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Alibaba Group from $117.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday. Citigroup upped their target price 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. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Alibaba Group from $130.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday. Mizuho upped their target price on shares of Alibaba Group from $92.00 to $113.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Alibaba Group from $125.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $131.93.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of BABA. Concord Wealth Partners boosted its holdings in shares of Alibaba Group by 155.0% in the third quarter. Concord Wealth Partners now owns 255 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 155 shares in the last quarter. Highline Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Alibaba Group in the third quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. bought a new position in shares of Alibaba Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Sierra Ocean LLC bought a new position in shares of Alibaba Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Finally, Assetmark Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Alibaba Group by 225.4% in the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 397 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 275 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 13.47% of the company's stock.

Alibaba Group Stock Up 5.7 %

The firm has a market capitalization of $341.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.14, a PEG ratio of 0.53 and a beta of 0.31. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $94.31 and its 200-day moving average price is $92.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 1.37 and a quick ratio of 1.37.

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