Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC Decreases Stake in Alibaba Group Holding Limited (NYSE:BABA)

Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC cut its position in Alibaba Group Holding Limited (NYSE:BABA) by 8.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 287,312 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 27,015 shares during the period. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC’s holdings in Alibaba Group were worth $24,361,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company acquired a new stake in Alibaba Group in the third quarter valued at $287,000. Benjamin Edwards Inc. purchased a new stake in Alibaba Group during the third quarter worth approximately $508,000. Quantinno Capital Management LP boosted its holdings in Alibaba Group by 56.8% in the third quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 19,659 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $2,086,000 after purchasing an additional 7,123 shares in the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp increased its stake in Alibaba Group by 40.1% in the third quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 266,849 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $28,318,000 after purchasing an additional 76,407 shares during the last quarter. Finally, XTX Topco Ltd raised its holdings in Alibaba Group by 55.7% during the third quarter. XTX Topco Ltd now owns 20,059 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $2,129,000 after purchasing an additional 7,174 shares in the last quarter. 13.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Alibaba Group Stock Down 9.9 %

Shares of NYSE:BABA opened at $116.56 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $276.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.84, a PEG ratio of 0.61 and a beta of 0.24. Alibaba Group Holding Limited has a fifty-two week low of $68.36 and a fifty-two week high of $148.43. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $125.77 and its 200-day simple moving average is $104.10. The company has a quick ratio of 1.48, a current ratio of 1.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19.

Alibaba Group (NYSE:BABA) last released 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). 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%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Alibaba Group Holding Limited will post 7.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. 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 report on Friday, February 21st. Bank of America raised their price objective on Alibaba Group from $117.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Morgan Stanley raised Alibaba Group from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $100.00 to $180.00 in a report on Monday, February 24th. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on Alibaba Group from $110.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, Benchmark boosted 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. Fifteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Alibaba Group currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $148.14.

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.