Alibaba Group Holding Limited (NYSE:BABA) Shares Sold by Loomis Sayles & Co. L P

Loomis Sayles & Co. L P trimmed its position in shares of Alibaba Group Holding Limited (NYSE:BABA) by 3.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,739,306 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 158,189 shares during the period. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P’s holdings in Alibaba Group were worth $401,846,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BABA. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans purchased a new position in Alibaba Group in the third quarter valued at about $321,000. Advisors Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Alibaba Group by 16.5% during the 3rd quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,338 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $460,000 after buying an additional 614 shares during the last quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of Alibaba Group by 60.1% during the third quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,496 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $689,000 after buying an additional 2,438 shares in the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Alibaba Group by 177.4% in the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 2,793 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $296,000 after buying an additional 1,786 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can acquired a new stake in Alibaba Group in the third quarter valued at $63,929,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 13.47% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently weighed in on BABA. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Alibaba Group from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $100.00 to $180.00 in a research report on Monday, February 24th. Benchmark upped their price objective on Alibaba Group from $118.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Bank of America lifted their target price on Alibaba Group from $117.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Barclays upped their price target on Alibaba Group from $130.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of Alibaba Group from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $104.00 to $165.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Alibaba Group currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $144.07.

Alibaba Group Stock Performance

BABA opened at $132.23 on Thursday. Alibaba Group Holding Limited has a twelve month low of $68.36 and a twelve month high of $148.43. The stock has a market cap of $314.18 billion, a PE ratio of 19.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.61 and a beta of 0.28. The business’s 50 day moving average is $119.59 and its 200-day moving average is $101.86. The company has a current ratio of 1.48, a quick ratio of 1.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19.

Alibaba Group (NYSE:BABA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The specialty retailer reported $2.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.84 by ($0.07). The business had revenue of $38.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $38.19 billion. Alibaba Group had a return on equity of 12.89% and a net margin of 12.29%. On average, analysts predict that Alibaba Group Holding Limited will post 7.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Alibaba Group 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.