Alliancebernstein L.P. Sells 413,408 Shares of Alibaba Group Holding Limited (NYSE:BABA)

Alliancebernstein L.P. decreased its stake in Alibaba Group Holding Limited (NYSE:BABA) by 26.6% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 1,140,286 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 413,408 shares during the quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P.’s holdings in Alibaba Group were worth $96,685,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans acquired a new stake in shares of Alibaba Group in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $321,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company bought a new stake in Alibaba Group in the third quarter valued at approximately $287,000. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank lifted its holdings in Alibaba Group by 2.8% during the 3rd quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 14,347 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $1,523,000 after purchasing an additional 390 shares during the last quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. bought a new position in Alibaba Group during the third quarter worth $508,000. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its holdings in shares of Alibaba Group by 83.1% in the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 1,081,188 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $114,757,000 after purchasing an additional 490,694 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 13.47% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently commented on BABA shares. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on shares of Alibaba Group from $110.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Mizuho upped their target price on Alibaba Group from $140.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, March 28th. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded Alibaba Group from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $104.00 to $165.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. StockNews.com raised shares of Alibaba Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price objective on Alibaba Group from $133.00 to $138.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 10th. Fifteen equities research 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.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $148.14.

Alibaba Group Stock Performance

Alibaba Group stock opened at $129.68 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.48, a current ratio of 1.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19. The stock has a market cap of $308.02 billion, a PE ratio of 18.74, a P/E/G ratio of 0.61 and a beta of 0.24. Alibaba Group Holding Limited has a 12-month low of $68.36 and a 12-month high of $148.43. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $124.35 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $103.55.

Alibaba Group (NYSE:BABA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The specialty retailer reported $2.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.84 by ($0.07). Alibaba Group had a return on equity of 12.89% and a net margin of 12.29%. The company had revenue of $38.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $38.19 billion. As a group, analysts expect that Alibaba Group Holding Limited will post 7.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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.