Zacks Investment Research upgraded shares of Alibaba Group Holding Ltd (NYSE:BABA) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report released on Monday morning, Analyst Ratings Net reports. The brokerage currently has $79.00 price target on the stock.

According to Zacks, “Alibaba Group is a Chinese e-Commerce giant which caters mainly to its native market. Alibaba Group’s fiscal second quarter results exceeded the Zacks Consensus driven by solid growth in mobile business, continued improvement in China’s commerce retail business and solid Gross Merchandise Value (GMV). The company’s dominance in the mobile commerce market, its continued efforts to develop new products, international growth opportunities and strong financial position are all positives. However, macro headwinds, continued investments and increasing competition from Tencent Holdings and Baidu remain overhangs.”

BABA has been the topic of a number of other research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated a buy rating on shares of Alibaba Group Holding in a research report on Tuesday, October 27th. Sanford C. Bernstein restated an outperform rating and issued a $110.00 price objective on shares of Alibaba Group Holding in a research report on Friday, November 13th. Deutsche Bank restated an in-line rating and issued a $85.00 price objective on shares of Alibaba Group Holding in a research report on Thursday, October 22nd. Wedbush restated a neutral rating and issued a $80.00 price objective (up previously from $75.00) on shares of Alibaba Group Holding in a research report on Wednesday, October 28th. Finally, Credit Suisse restated a top pick rating on shares of Alibaba Group Holding in a research report on Friday, October 16th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-four have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. The company has an average rating of Buy and a consensus target price of $94.89.

A number of institutional investors have added to or reduced their stakes in BABA. Beacon Capital Management acquired a new position in Alibaba Group Holding during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $0. Assetmark acquired a new position in Alibaba Group Holding during the third quarter valued at approximately $0. Narwhal Capital Management raised its position in Alibaba Group Holding by 3.5% in the fourth quarter. Narwhal Capital Management now owns 4,425 shares of the company’s stock valued at $360,000 after buying an additional 150 shares during the period. Diversified Trust Co raised its position in Alibaba Group Holding by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 24,335 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,978,000 after buying an additional 405 shares during the period. Finally, Laurel Grove Capital raised its position in Alibaba Group Holding by 7.5% in the fourth quarter. Laurel Grove Capital now owns 7,150 shares of the company’s stock valued at $581,000 after buying an additional 500 shares during the period.

Alibaba Group Holding (NYSE:BABA) traded down 2.39% during trading on Monday, hitting $67.88. 13,784,614 shares of the stock were exchanged. The stock’s market cap is $167.05 billion. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $77.15 and a 200-day moving average of $74.88. Alibaba Group Holding has a 52 week low of $57.20 and a 52 week high of $95.06.

Alibaba Group Holding (NYSE:BABA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 28th. The company reported $0.98 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the Thomson Reuters’ consensus estimate of $5.81 by $4.83. The firm had revenue of $5.33 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $33.06 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.81 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Alibaba Group Holding will post $17.34 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alibaba Group Holding Limited is a holding company. The Company is principally engaged in online and mobile commerce through products, services and technology. The Company provides retail and wholesale marketplaces available through both personal computer and mobile interfaces in the PRC and internationally. Retail marketplaces and services operated by the Company include the China online shopping destination (NYSE:BABA); the China brands and retail platform (Tmall); the China group buying site that offers products by aggregating demand from consumers through limited time discounted sales (Juhuasuan), and the global consumer marketplace targeting consumers around the world (AliExpress). Wholesale marketplaces operated by the Company include the online China wholesale marketplace (1688.com) and the online business-to-business marketplace that focuses on global trade among businesses from around the world (Alibaba.com).

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