State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D Takes $3.48 Million Position in Alibaba Group Holding Limited (NYSE:BABA)

State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D acquired a new stake in shares of Alibaba Group Holding Limited (NYSE:BABA) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm acquired 44,830 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $3,475,000.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Morgan Stanley raised its position in shares of Alibaba Group by 13.8% during the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 11,610,078 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $1,007,058,000 after buying an additional 1,406,491 shares during the last quarter. Sanders Capital LLC raised its position in shares of Alibaba Group by 322.7% during the third quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 15,029,238 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $1,303,636,000 after buying an additional 11,473,618 shares during the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Alibaba Group by 299.9% during the fourth quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 82,888 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $6,428,000 after buying an additional 62,163 shares during the last quarter. Certuity LLC raised its position in shares of Alibaba Group by 122.2% during the third quarter. Certuity LLC now owns 113,704 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $9,863,000 after buying an additional 62,543 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Taikang Asset Management Hong Kong Co Ltd raised its position in shares of Alibaba Group by 19.7% during the third quarter. Taikang Asset Management Hong Kong Co Ltd now owns 730,000 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $63,320,000 after buying an additional 120,000 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 13.47% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BABA has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Alibaba Group from $138.00 to $109.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Alibaba Group from $105.00 to $100.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on shares of Alibaba Group from $95.00 to $90.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 19th. Benchmark reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $118.00 target price on shares of Alibaba Group in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, Macquarie cut shares of Alibaba Group from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $88.50 to $85.40 in a research note on Thursday, February 8th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $112.91.

Alibaba Group Price Performance

Shares of Alibaba Group stock opened at $75.55 on Friday. Alibaba Group Holding Limited has a 1-year low of $66.63 and a 1-year high of $102.50. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $73.19 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $75.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $191.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.94 and a beta of 0.46. The company has a current ratio of 1.80, a quick ratio of 1.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12.

Alibaba Group (NYSE:BABA) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 7th. The specialty retailer reported $18.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $19.12 by ($0.15). Alibaba Group had a return on equity of 12.65% and a net margin of 10.75%. The company had revenue of $260.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $260.26 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.44 earnings per share. Alibaba Group’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict that Alibaba Group Holding Limited will post 7.54 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.