Mizuho Reaffirms Buy Rating for Alibaba Group (NYSE:BABA)

Mizuho reaffirmed their buy rating on shares of Alibaba Group (NYSE:BABA) in a report published on Wednesday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $95.00 price objective on the specialty retailer’s stock.

Several other research firms have also recently weighed in on BABA. StockNews.com upgraded Alibaba Group from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 27th. Robert W. Baird cut their price target on Alibaba Group from $95.00 to $90.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Alibaba Group from $110.00 to $105.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 8th. Morgan Stanley reissued an equal weight rating and set a $90.00 target price (down previously from $110.00) on shares of Alibaba Group in a research note on Friday, December 1st. Finally, Macquarie cut Alibaba Group from an outperform rating to a neutral rating and cut their price target for the company from $88.50 to $85.40 in a report on Thursday, February 8th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $115.44.

Alibaba Group Price Performance

Shares of BABA stock opened at $72.36 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $183.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.35 and a beta of 0.47. Alibaba Group has a fifty-two week low of $66.63 and a fifty-two week high of $105.05. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $73.53 and its 200-day moving average price is $77.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 1.80 and a current ratio of 1.80.

Alibaba Group (NYSE:BABA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 7th. The specialty retailer reported $18.97 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $19.12 by ($0.15). Alibaba Group had a net margin of 10.75% and a return on equity of 12.65%. The firm had revenue of $260.35 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $260.26 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.44 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Alibaba Group will post 7.97 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Alibaba Group

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Savant Capital LLC raised its position in Alibaba Group by 2.7% during the 3rd quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 4,756 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $413,000 after purchasing an additional 127 shares in the last quarter. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. increased its position in Alibaba Group by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 6,727 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $584,000 after buying an additional 136 shares in the last quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. increased its position in Alibaba Group by 4.6% during the 3rd quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 3,170 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $275,000 after buying an additional 140 shares in the last quarter. Clearstead Advisors LLC increased its position in Alibaba Group by 32.9% during the 3rd quarter. Clearstead Advisors LLC now owns 573 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $50,000 after buying an additional 142 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Advisors Asset Management Inc. increased its position in Alibaba Group by 6.1% during the 3rd quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,464 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $214,000 after buying an additional 142 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 13.47% of the company’s stock.

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.