Jennison Associates LLC Boosts Stock Position in Alibaba Group Holding Limited $BABA

Jennison Associates LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Alibaba Group Holding Limited (NYSE:BABA) by 11.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 54,235 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,760 shares during the quarter. Jennison Associates LLC’s holdings in Alibaba Group were worth $7,950,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Brighton Jones LLC increased its holdings in shares of Alibaba Group by 40.4% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 3,411 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $289,000 after acquiring an additional 981 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Alibaba Group in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $254,000. Bank of Nova Scotia increased its holdings in shares of Alibaba Group by 313.0% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 21,778 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $2,470,000 after acquiring an additional 16,505 shares during the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Alibaba Group in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $1,613,000. Finally, Ieq Capital LLC increased its holdings in shares of Alibaba Group by 51.9% in the 2nd quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 70,060 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $7,946,000 after acquiring an additional 23,925 shares during the last quarter. 13.47% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. BNP Paribas Exane assumed coverage on Alibaba Group in a report on Wednesday. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $209.00 price target for the company. Susquehanna lowered their price target on Alibaba Group from $190.00 to $170.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 26th. Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on Alibaba Group from $174.00 to $164.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 20th. DZ Bank downgraded Alibaba Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $135.00 price target for the company. in a report on Friday, March 20th. Finally, Argus upgraded Alibaba Group to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 24th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $188.75.

Alibaba Group Price Performance

Shares of BABA opened at $131.52 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $314.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.81, a PEG ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 0.50. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $133.05 and a 200 day moving average price of $151.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 1.33 and a quick ratio of 1.33. Alibaba Group Holding Limited has a 12 month low of $103.71 and a 12 month high of $192.67.

Alibaba Group (NYSE:BABA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Saturday, February 14th. The specialty retailer reported $0.13 EPS for the quarter. The firm had revenue of $40.71 billion during the quarter. Alibaba Group had a return on equity of 7.43% and a net margin of 9.12%. On average, research analysts forecast that Alibaba Group Holding Limited will post 4.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Alibaba Group Profile

Alibaba Group Holding Limited is a Chinese multinational conglomerate founded in 1999 in Hangzhou, China, by Jack Ma and a group of co?founders. The company built its business around internet-based commerce and related services and has grown into one of the largest e-commerce and technology companies in the world. Alibaba completed a high?profile initial public offering on the New York Stock Exchange in 2014.

The company operates a portfolio of online marketplaces and platforms serving different customer segments: Alibaba.com for global and domestic B2B trade, Taobao for consumer-to-consumer shopping, and Tmall for brand and retailer storefronts targeted at Chinese consumers.