Alibaba Group (NYSE:BABA) Posts Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.35 EPS

Alibaba Group (NYSE:BABA) released its earnings results on Thursday. The specialty retailer reported $15.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $15.28 by $0.35, MarketWatch Earnings reports. Alibaba Group had a net margin of 9.45% and a return on equity of 12.55%. The company had revenue of $224.79 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $224.48 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.50 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year.

Alibaba Group Trading Down 1.9 %

BABA stock opened at $77.60 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $84.54 and a 200 day moving average price of $87.58. Alibaba Group has a fifty-two week low of $74.58 and a fifty-two week high of $121.30. The stock has a market capitalization of $199.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.69 and a beta of 0.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 1.92 and a quick ratio of 1.92.

Alibaba Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a — dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 18th. Investors of record on Thursday, December 21st will be issued a dividend of $1.00 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, December 20th.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have weighed in on BABA shares. Barclays dropped their target price on Alibaba Group from $144.00 to $138.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, November 1st. HSBC decreased their price target on Alibaba Group from $142.00 to $135.00 in a research note on Monday, October 9th. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their target price on Alibaba Group from $98.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 11th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Alibaba Group from $150.00 to $110.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday. Finally, UBS Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $127.00 target price (up previously from $120.00) on shares of Alibaba Group in a research note on Wednesday, November 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Alibaba Group presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $131.20.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Alibaba Group

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of BABA. Sanders Capital LLC increased its holdings in Alibaba Group by 322.7% during the 3rd quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 15,029,238 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $1,303,636,000 after purchasing an additional 11,473,618 shares in the last quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Alibaba Group by 108,264.6% during the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,711,488 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $326,945,000 after purchasing an additional 3,708,063 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its stake in shares of Alibaba Group by 461.2% in the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 4,215,884 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $365,686,000 after buying an additional 3,464,723 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its position in shares of Alibaba Group by 39.5% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 11,034,187 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $1,127,475,000 after acquiring an additional 3,124,057 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Alibaba Group by 650.4% during the first quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,172,551 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $28,887,000 after acquiring an additional 1,883,022 shares during the period. 14.22% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Alibaba Group Company 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.