Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Sells 35,834 Shares of Alibaba Group Holding Limited (NYSE:BABA)

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. cut its holdings in shares of Alibaba Group Holding Limited (NYSE:BABA) by 93.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,583 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 35,834 shares during the period. Jefferies Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Alibaba Group were worth $219,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Alibaba Group during the fourth quarter worth $585,479,000. Renaissance Technologies LLC raised its position in shares of Alibaba Group by 208.5% in the 4th quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 2,995,640 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $254,000,000 after acquiring an additional 2,024,640 shares in the last quarter. Appaloosa LP lifted its stake in shares of Alibaba Group by 18.4% during the 4th quarter. Appaloosa LP now owns 11,843,158 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $1,004,181,000 after purchasing an additional 1,843,158 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can boosted its position in Alibaba Group by 92.7% during the fourth quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 1,147,636 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $97,308,000 after purchasing an additional 552,010 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Clear Street Derivatives LLC purchased a new position in Alibaba Group in the fourth quarter valued at about $46,690,000. 13.47% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have commented on BABA. Arete Research raised shares of Alibaba Group to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Alibaba Group from $130.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Alibaba Group from $117.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Citigroup decreased their price objective on Alibaba Group from $170.00 to $169.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein raised Alibaba Group from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $104.00 to $165.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Alibaba Group currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $154.21.

Alibaba Group Trading Down 0.4%

NYSE BABA opened at $123.37 on Monday. Alibaba Group Holding Limited has a 1 year low of $71.80 and a 1 year high of $148.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a current ratio of 1.48 and a quick ratio of 1.48. The company has a market capitalization of $294.59 billion, a PE ratio of 17.83, a P/E/G ratio of 0.61 and a beta of 0.24. The company has a fifty day moving average of $123.38 and a 200 day moving average of $107.33.

Alibaba Group (NYSE:BABA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The specialty retailer reported $2.77 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.84 by ($0.07). Alibaba Group had a net margin of 12.29% and a return on equity of 12.89%. The company had revenue of $38.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $38.19 billion. Research analysts forecast that Alibaba Group Holding Limited will post 7.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Alibaba Group Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a — dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 12th will be issued a $0.95 dividend. This represents a yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 12th. Alibaba Group’s payout ratio is presently 13.15%.

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.