Russell Investments Group Ltd. Has $76.95 Million Stake in Alibaba Group Holding Limited (NYSE:BABA)

Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Alibaba Group Holding Limited (NYSE:BABA) by 2.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 992,784 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 21,228 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd.’s holdings in Alibaba Group were worth $76,951,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of BABA. Sanders Capital LLC increased its stake in shares of Alibaba Group by 322.7% in the 3rd quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 15,029,238 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $1,303,636,000 after buying an additional 11,473,618 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley increased its stake in shares of Alibaba Group by 13.8% in the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 11,610,078 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $1,007,058,000 after buying an additional 1,406,491 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its stake in shares of Alibaba Group by 461.2% in the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 4,215,884 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $365,686,000 after buying an additional 3,464,723 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in shares of Alibaba Group by 65.6% in the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 3,508,392 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $304,318,000 after buying an additional 1,389,233 shares during the period. Finally, Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund increased its stake in shares of Alibaba Group by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 2,480,200 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $215,133,000 after buying an additional 18,900 shares during the period. 13.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. StockNews.com raised Alibaba Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 27th. Macquarie cut Alibaba Group from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $88.50 to $85.40 in a research note on Thursday, February 8th. Benchmark reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $118.00 target price on shares of Alibaba Group in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price target on Alibaba Group from $121.00 to $105.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 8th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on Alibaba Group from $105.00 to $100.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $112.91.

Alibaba Group Trading Up 0.6 %

BABA stock traded up $0.44 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $75.55. 14,216,073 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 13,622,653. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $73.19 and its 200-day moving average price is $75.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 1.80 and a current ratio of 1.80. The company has a market cap of $191.71 billion, a PE ratio of 13.94 and a beta of 0.46. Alibaba Group Holding Limited has a one year low of $66.63 and a one year high of $102.50.

Alibaba Group (NYSE:BABA) last posted its 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). The business had revenue of $260.35 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $260.26 billion. Alibaba Group had a return on equity of 12.65% and a net margin of 10.75%. The business’s revenue was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.44 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Alibaba Group Holding Limited will post 7.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.