Allianz SE Purchases New Position in Alibaba Group Holding Limited (NYSE:BABA)

Allianz SE acquired a new stake in Alibaba Group Holding Limited (NYSE:BABA) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 39,547 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $3,333,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Tucker Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Alibaba Group by 1,112.7% in the fourth quarter. Tucker Asset Management LLC now owns 2,862 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $243,000 after acquiring an additional 2,626 shares during the period. Maridea Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Alibaba Group in the 4th quarter worth approximately $579,000. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. boosted its holdings in Alibaba Group by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 30,855 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $2,616,000 after purchasing an additional 152 shares during the period. DnB Asset Management AS purchased a new position in shares of Alibaba Group during the 4th quarter valued at $548,000. Finally, Level Four Advisory Services LLC increased its holdings in shares of Alibaba Group by 18.7% in the fourth quarter. Level Four Advisory Services LLC now owns 3,167 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $269,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 13.47% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently issued reports on BABA. Barclays lifted their price objective on Alibaba Group from $130.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Morgan Stanley raised Alibaba Group from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $100.00 to $180.00 in a report on Monday, February 24th. Arete Research raised shares of Alibaba Group to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Benchmark boosted their price target on shares of Alibaba Group from $118.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Alibaba Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Alibaba Group has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $148.14.

Alibaba Group Stock Performance

Shares of BABA stock opened at $132.49 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $314.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.15, a PEG ratio of 0.61 and a beta of 0.28. Alibaba Group Holding Limited has a fifty-two week low of $68.36 and a fifty-two week high of $148.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a quick ratio of 1.48 and a current ratio of 1.48. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $121.60 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $102.58.

Alibaba Group (NYSE:BABA) last posted 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). Alibaba Group had a net margin of 12.29% and a return on equity of 12.89%. The business had revenue of $38.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $38.19 billion. Analysts expect 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.