Alibaba Group (NYSE:BABA) Shares Down 3% – Should You Sell?

Alibaba Group Holding Limited (NYSE:BABA)’s share price dropped 3% during mid-day trading on Friday . The company traded as low as $87.26 and last traded at $87.89. Approximately 16,164,907 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 8% from the average daily volume of 17,628,395 shares. The stock had previously closed at $90.58.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BABA has been the topic of a number of research reports. Barclays boosted their price objective on Alibaba Group from $107.00 to $137.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Truist Financial lowered their price objective on Alibaba Group from $110.00 to $100.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Morgan Stanley restated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $90.00 price objective on shares of Alibaba Group in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on Alibaba Group from $88.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Bank of America boosted their price objective on Alibaba Group from $106.00 to $124.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Three equities 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 price target of $114.53.

Alibaba Group Stock Down 2.5 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a current ratio of 1.41 and a quick ratio of 1.41. The company has a market cap of $211.40 billion, a PE ratio of 23.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.41 and a beta of 0.35. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $98.04 and a 200 day moving average price of $85.47.

Alibaba Group (NYSE:BABA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 15th. The specialty retailer reported $16.44 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.87 by $14.57. Alibaba Group had a return on equity of 12.08% and a net margin of 7.31%. The company had revenue of $243.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $248.32 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.47 earnings per share. Alibaba Group’s revenue was up 3.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that Alibaba Group Holding Limited will post 8.51 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Alibaba Group

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its position in Alibaba Group by 1,392.6% in the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 6,125,542 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $650,043,000 after purchasing an additional 5,715,155 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its position in Alibaba Group by 3,180.1% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 3,857,760 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $409,385,000 after purchasing an additional 3,740,150 shares during the last quarter. Hhlr Advisors LTD. lifted its position in Alibaba Group by 64.1% in the third quarter. Hhlr Advisors LTD. now owns 8,827,600 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $936,785,000 after purchasing an additional 3,448,152 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its position in Alibaba Group by 454.2% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,611,571 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $383,260,000 after purchasing an additional 2,959,954 shares during the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its position in Alibaba Group by 9,205.2% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,697,358 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $1,801,240,000 after purchasing an additional 1,679,117 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 13.47% of the company’s stock.

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.