Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. Raises Stake in Alibaba Group Holding Limited (NYSE:BABA)

Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. grew its position in Alibaba Group Holding Limited (NYSE:BABA) by 0.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 30,855 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 152 shares during the quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co.’s holdings in Alibaba Group were worth $2,616,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans purchased a new position in Alibaba Group in the third quarter valued at approximately $321,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company purchased a new position in shares of Alibaba Group in the 3rd quarter valued at $287,000. FMR LLC raised its stake in Alibaba Group by 454.2% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,611,571 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $383,260,000 after acquiring an additional 2,959,954 shares in the last quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Alibaba Group in the third quarter valued at $518,000. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank boosted its stake in Alibaba Group by 2.8% in the third quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 14,347 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $1,523,000 after acquiring an additional 390 shares in the last quarter. 13.47% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Alibaba Group Stock Performance

Shares of BABA stock opened at $132.49 on Friday. 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 Holding Limited has a 12-month low of $68.36 and a 12-month high of $148.43. The company has a market cap of $314.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.61 and a beta of 0.28. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $121.60 and a 200-day simple moving average of $102.58.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently commented on BABA. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on Alibaba Group from $110.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Bank of America lifted their price target on Alibaba Group from $117.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Benchmark increased their price objective on Alibaba Group from $118.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Mizuho lifted their target price on shares of Alibaba Group from $140.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Alibaba Group from $125.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $148.14.

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.