Perennial Investment Advisors LLC Invests $243,000 in Alibaba Group Holding Limited (NYSE:BABA)

Perennial Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Alibaba Group Holding Limited (NYSE:BABA) during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund acquired 2,866 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $243,000.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Hel Ved Capital Management Ltd acquired a new position in Alibaba Group in the 4th quarter worth about $2,010,000. Integrated Quantitative Investments LLC acquired a new position in Alibaba Group in the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,357,000. Arete Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in Alibaba Group by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Arete Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 8,249 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $700,000 after acquiring an additional 248 shares in the last quarter. World Investment Advisors lifted its stake in Alibaba Group by 4.0% in the fourth quarter. World Investment Advisors now owns 10,660 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $904,000 after acquiring an additional 408 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Huntington National Bank grew its position in Alibaba Group by 24.0% in the fourth quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 2,602 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $221,000 after acquiring an additional 504 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 13.47% of the company’s stock.

Alibaba Group Price Performance

Shares of Alibaba Group stock opened at $116.56 on Monday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $125.77 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $104.24. 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 current ratio of 1.48 and a quick ratio of 1.48. The company has a market cap of $276.85 billion, a PE ratio of 16.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.61 and a beta of 0.24.

Alibaba Group (NYSE:BABA) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The specialty retailer reported $2.77 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.84 by ($0.07). The firm 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%. Analysts expect that Alibaba Group Holding Limited will post 7.86 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on BABA shares. Benchmark raised their price target on shares of Alibaba Group from $118.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Arete Research raised Alibaba Group to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Bank of America increased their price objective on Alibaba Group from $117.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded Alibaba Group from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $104.00 to $165.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upgraded Alibaba Group from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the company from $100.00 to $180.00 in a report on Monday, February 24th. Fifteen analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average 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.