Alterna Wealth Management Inc. Boosts Position in Alibaba Group Holding Limited (NYSE:BABA)

Alterna Wealth Management Inc. boosted its stake in Alibaba Group Holding Limited (NYSE:BABA) by 5.9% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 3,763 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 209 shares during the quarter. Alterna Wealth Management Inc.’s holdings in Alibaba Group were worth $292,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. raised its position in shares of Alibaba Group by 5.9% in the 3rd quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 54,936 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $4,765,000 after acquiring an additional 3,084 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates boosted its holdings in shares of Alibaba Group by 5.6% during the 3rd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 384,537 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $33,355,000 after buying an additional 20,326 shares in the last quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. grew its position in shares of Alibaba Group by 8.2% in the 3rd quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. now owns 12,896 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $1,119,000 after buying an additional 979 shares during the period. Independent Advisor Alliance increased its stake in shares of Alibaba Group by 6.1% in the 3rd quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 9,139 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $793,000 after acquiring an additional 525 shares in the last quarter. Finally, NorthRock Partners LLC purchased a new position in Alibaba Group during the 3rd quarter valued at about $279,000. 13.47% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have weighed in on BABA. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Alibaba Group from $138.00 to $109.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 12th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and set a $85.00 price objective on shares of Alibaba Group in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Mizuho reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $95.00 target price on shares of Alibaba Group in a report on Wednesday, March 27th. Macquarie cut Alibaba Group from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $88.50 to $85.40 in a research note on Thursday, February 8th. Finally, Citigroup lowered their price target on Alibaba Group from $126.00 to $124.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $112.91.

Alibaba Group Stock Performance

Shares of BABA traded up $1.00 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $81.33. 19,355,807 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 15,275,838. Alibaba Group Holding Limited has a 1 year low of $66.63 and a 1 year high of $102.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 1.80 and a current ratio of 1.80. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $73.47 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $75.22. The stock has a market cap of $206.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.01 and a beta of 0.44.

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

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.