Royal Fund Management LLC Reduces Position in Alibaba Group Holding Limited (NYSE:BABA)

Royal Fund Management LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Alibaba Group Holding Limited (NYSE:BABA) by 63.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 17,431 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 29,779 shares during the quarter. Royal Fund Management LLC’s holdings in Alibaba Group were worth $1,351,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Sanders Capital LLC increased 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 worth $1,303,636,000 after acquiring an additional 11,473,618 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley increased its holdings in Alibaba Group by 13.8% in 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. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its holdings in Alibaba Group by 461.2% in the third 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 last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. increased its holdings in Alibaba Group by 65.6% in the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 3,508,392 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $304,318,000 after buying an additional 1,389,233 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund increased its holdings in Alibaba Group by 0.8% in the third quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 2,480,200 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $215,133,000 after buying an additional 18,900 shares during the last quarter. 13.47% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have commented on BABA shares. Susquehanna decreased their target price on Alibaba Group from $150.00 to $135.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 8th. Robert W. Baird decreased their target price on Alibaba Group from $95.00 to $90.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 19th. Citigroup decreased their target price on Alibaba Group from $126.00 to $124.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Mizuho reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $95.00 price objective on shares of Alibaba Group in a research report on Wednesday, March 27th. Finally, Macquarie downgraded Alibaba Group from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $88.50 to $85.40 in a research report on Thursday, February 8th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Alibaba Group currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $112.91.

Alibaba Group Stock Up 1.2 %

Shares of NYSE BABA traded up $1.00 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $81.33. The company had a trading volume of 19,355,807 shares, compared to its average volume of 15,275,838. Alibaba Group Holding Limited has a twelve month low of $66.63 and a twelve month 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 market capitalization of $206.37 billion, a PE ratio of 15.01 and a beta of 0.44. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $73.47 and its 200-day moving average is $75.22.

Alibaba Group (NYSE:BABA) last posted its quarterly 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $260.26 billion. Alibaba Group had a return on equity of 12.65% and a net margin of 10.75%. The company’s revenue was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.44 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate 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.