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

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Alibaba Group Holding Limited (NYSE:BABA) by 93.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund 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 filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Alibaba Group in the 4th quarter worth $585,479,000. Renaissance Technologies LLC lifted its position in shares of Alibaba Group by 208.5% in the fourth quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 2,995,640 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $254,000,000 after buying an additional 2,024,640 shares in the last quarter. Appaloosa LP lifted its position in shares of Alibaba Group by 18.4% in the fourth quarter. Appaloosa LP now owns 11,843,158 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $1,004,181,000 after buying an additional 1,843,158 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can boosted its stake 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 buying an additional 552,010 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Clear Street Derivatives LLC purchased a new position in Alibaba Group during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $46,690,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 13.47% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Benchmark decreased their price objective on Alibaba Group from $190.00 to $176.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Robert W. Baird decreased their price target on shares of Alibaba Group from $147.00 to $142.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. Sanford C. Bernstein raised shares of Alibaba Group from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $104.00 to $165.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Arete Research upgraded shares of Alibaba Group to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Bank of America lifted their price target on Alibaba Group from $117.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $154.21.

Alibaba Group Price Performance

Shares of BABA stock opened at $123.37 on Monday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $123.38 and a 200 day moving average price of $107.33. Alibaba Group Holding Limited has a 52-week low of $71.80 and a 52-week high of $148.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a quick ratio of 1.48 and a current ratio of 1.48. The firm has a market capitalization of $294.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.83, a P/E/G ratio of 0.61 and a beta of 0.24.

Alibaba Group (NYSE:BABA) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The specialty retailer reported $2.77 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.84 by ($0.07). The business had revenue of $38.38 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $38.19 billion. Alibaba Group had a return on equity of 12.89% and a net margin of 12.29%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Alibaba Group Holding Limited will post 7.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Alibaba Group Cuts Dividend

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

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.