Traders Buy Large Volume of Alibaba Group Call Options (NYSE:BABA)

Alibaba Group Holding Limited (NYSE:BABA) was the target of some unusual options trading on Thursday. Investors bought 329,809 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of 35% compared to the average volume of 243,619 call options.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently weighed in on BABA. Macquarie cut shares of Alibaba Group from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $88.50 to $85.40 in a research report on Thursday, February 8th. Benchmark reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $118.00 price target on shares of Alibaba Group in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Citigroup dropped their price objective on Alibaba Group from $126.00 to $124.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. 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. Finally, Susquehanna lowered their target price on Alibaba Group from $150.00 to $135.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 8th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $112.91.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Alibaba Group

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Primecap Management Co. CA grew its holdings in shares of Alibaba Group by 5.1% in the fourth quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 18,224,982 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $1,412,618,000 after acquiring an additional 881,710 shares in the last quarter. Sanders Capital LLC raised its stake in shares of Alibaba Group by 5.4% during the 4th quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 15,848,257 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $1,228,398,000 after purchasing an additional 819,019 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley grew its position in 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 period. FIL Ltd increased its holdings in Alibaba Group by 10.2% during the fourth quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 10,630,701 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $823,986,000 after buying an additional 983,842 shares during the last quarter. Finally, H&H International Investment LLC boosted its stake in Alibaba Group by 63.1% in the fourth quarter. H&H International Investment LLC now owns 4,959,230 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $384,390,000 after acquiring an additional 1,918,730 shares during the last quarter. 13.47% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Alibaba Group Stock Performance

BABA opened at $81.31 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $206.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.01 and a beta of 0.44. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $73.36 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $75.25. Alibaba Group has a 1-year low of $66.63 and a 1-year high of $102.50. 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 posted 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 business 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.44 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Alibaba Group will post 7.54 EPS for the current fiscal 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.