Ballentine Partners LLC Buys 2,004 Shares of Alibaba Group Holding Limited (NYSE:BABA)

Ballentine Partners LLC increased its stake in Alibaba Group Holding Limited (NYSE:BABA) by 18.0% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 13,113 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,004 shares during the quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC’s holdings in Alibaba Group were worth $1,392,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in BABA. ICA Group Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Alibaba Group by 14.6% in the second quarter. ICA Group Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,004 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $72,000 after buying an additional 128 shares during the period. Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Alibaba Group by 4.3% in the 3rd quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,400 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $361,000 after purchasing an additional 139 shares during the period. North Star Investment Management Corp. grew its stake in Alibaba Group by 11.2% during the first quarter. North Star Investment Management Corp. now owns 1,533 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $111,000 after purchasing an additional 154 shares during the period. EPIQ Capital Group LLC increased its holdings in Alibaba Group by 0.3% in the second quarter. EPIQ Capital Group LLC now owns 46,091 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $3,396,000 after purchasing an additional 157 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Evolution Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Alibaba Group by 4.1% in the second quarter. Evolution Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,004 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $288,000 after buying an additional 158 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 13.47% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently weighed in on BABA. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $90.00 price objective on shares of Alibaba Group in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on Alibaba Group from $88.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday. Macquarie upgraded Alibaba Group from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $145.00 target price on the stock in a report on Monday, October 7th. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price target on shares of Alibaba Group from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Alibaba Group from $100.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 16th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $114.00.

Alibaba Group Stock Up 1.1 %

Shares of NYSE:BABA opened at $97.38 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $93.79 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $82.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a current ratio of 1.41 and a quick ratio of 1.41. The company has a market capitalization of $247.09 billion, a PE ratio of 22.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.55 and a beta of 0.35. Alibaba Group Holding Limited has a 1 year low of $66.63 and a 1 year high of $117.82.

Alibaba Group (NYSE:BABA) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 15th. The specialty retailer reported $16.44 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.87 by $14.57. Alibaba Group had a net margin of 7.31% and a return on equity of 12.08%. The firm had revenue of $243.24 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $248.32 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.47 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 3.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Alibaba Group Holding Limited will post 7.93 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.