ARGA Investment Management LP Cuts Position in Alibaba Group Holding Limited $BABA

ARGA Investment Management LP decreased its holdings in Alibaba Group Holding Limited (NYSE:BABA) by 2.5% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 172,660 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 4,514 shares during the quarter. Alibaba Group makes up 0.7% of ARGA Investment Management LP’s holdings, making the stock its 27th biggest holding. ARGA Investment Management LP’s holdings in Alibaba Group were worth $21,662,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Capital World Investors increased its position in shares of Alibaba Group by 7.7% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 6,505,165 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $953,527,000 after buying an additional 466,847 shares in the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. lifted its position in shares of Alibaba Group by 7,680.3% during the 4th quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 6,014,147 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $881,554,000 after buying an additional 5,936,847 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Alibaba Group by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 5,335,894 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $782,135,000 after buying an additional 42,297 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Alibaba Group in the 4th quarter valued at $594,477,000. Finally, Coatue Management LLC grew its stake in Alibaba Group by 130.1% in the 3rd quarter. Coatue Management LLC now owns 1,996,593 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $356,851,000 after acquiring an additional 1,128,826 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 13.47% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on BABA shares. Freedom Capital upgraded shares of Alibaba Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 24th. HSBC set a $170.00 target price on shares of Alibaba Group in a research report on Thursday. Nomura cut their target price on shares of Alibaba Group from $207.00 to $178.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, June 25th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Alibaba Group from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Alibaba Group from $200.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 14th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $186.90.

Alibaba Group News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Alibaba Group this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Alibaba shares rallied after reports highlighted improving optimism around its AI and cloud businesses, including commentary that AI-driven revenue could support earnings and a re-rating of the stock. Alibaba shares jump on AI cloud market
• Positive Sentiment: News that China may allow selected firms, including Alibaba, to access Nvidia’s H200 chips could support Alibaba’s AI development and cloud infrastructure plans. Related China AI chip access report
• Positive Sentiment: Alibaba also received a temporary U.S. legal reprieve from certain Pentagon-linked lobbying restrictions, easing one source of regulatory pressure in the near term. Alibaba settles DOJ case as AI rules tighten
• Neutral Sentiment: The company is updating internal AI policies in response to China’s tightening AI rules, including changes to its Qwen platform and restrictions on some third-party tools, which mainly signals compliance rather than an immediate financial impact. Alibaba settles DOJ case as AI rules tighten
• Negative Sentiment: Alibaba agreed to a $600 million non-prosecution settlement with the U.S. Department of Justice over historic illegal pharmaceutical sales, adding a meaningful legal overhang and potential reputational drag. Alibaba settles DOJ case as AI rules tighten
• Negative Sentiment: Investor-rights and securities-fraud law firms announced investigations into Alibaba, which can weigh on sentiment even if no wrongdoing has been proven. Howard G. Smith securities fraud investigation

Insider Transactions at Alibaba Group

In related news, CFO Hong Xu sold 175,054 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $12.15, for a total transaction of $2,126,906.10. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 280,496 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,408,026.40. This represents a 38.43% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, CEO Fan (Fj) Jiang sold 13,579 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $12.10, for a total transaction of $164,305.90. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 556,617 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,735,065.70. This represents a 2.38% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. In the last quarter, insiders sold 920,303 shares of company stock valued at $70,796,370. Company insiders own 12.50% of the company’s stock.

Alibaba Group Stock Up 1.0%

Shares of BABA opened at $112.30 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $118.89 and a 200 day moving average price of $136.48. Alibaba Group Holding Limited has a one year low of $91.99 and a one year high of $192.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 1.28 and a current ratio of 1.28. The stock has a market capitalization of $269.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.44, a PEG ratio of 2.04 and a beta of 0.51.

Alibaba Group (NYSE:BABA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, March 31st. The specialty retailer reported $0.01 earnings per share for the quarter. Alibaba Group had a return on equity of 4.76% and a net margin of 10.31%.The company had revenue of $35.30 billion for the quarter. Equities research analysts forecast that Alibaba Group Holding Limited will post 6.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alibaba Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced an annual dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 11th will be given a $1.05 dividend. This represents a dividend yield of 93.0%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 11th. Alibaba Group’s dividend payout ratio is 16.91%.

Alibaba Group Company Profile

Alibaba Group Holding Limited is a Chinese multinational conglomerate founded in 1999 in Hangzhou, China, by Jack Ma and a group of co‑founders. The company built its business around internet-based commerce and related services and has grown into one of the largest e-commerce and technology companies in the world. Alibaba completed a high‑profile initial public offering on the New York Stock Exchange in 2014.

The company operates a portfolio of online marketplaces and platforms serving different customer segments: Alibaba.com for global and domestic B2B trade, Taobao for consumer-to-consumer shopping, and Tmall for brand and retailer storefronts targeted at Chinese consumers.