Alibaba Group (NYSE:BABA) Shares Down 1.5% – Should You Sell?

Shares of Alibaba Group Holding Limited (NYSE:BABA) were down 1.5% during trading on Friday . The company traded as low as $123.43 and last traded at $124.2720. Approximately 11,889,323 shares were traded during mid-day trading, an increase of 0% from the average daily volume of 11,857,958 shares. The stock had previously closed at $126.16.

Key Stories Impacting Alibaba Group

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

• Positive Sentiment: Alibaba’s ecosystem is showing continued progress in AI and digital infrastructure, including reports that its Qwen model beat OpenAI and Google rivals in a coding ranking, and that the company is pushing new AI agent and embodied-AI initiatives. These headlines support the view that Alibaba is becoming a more credible AI platform play. Alibaba’s Qwen Beats OpenAI, Google in AI Coding Rank
• Positive Sentiment: Ant Group, Alibaba’s affiliate, is expanding blockchain-based lending tools and showcasing smart city and digital finance applications in Macau, highlighting additional growth avenues across fintech and cloud services. Exclusive: Ant Group-backed R25 launches emerging-market consumer credit vault
• Neutral Sentiment: Broker coverage remains constructive, with Alibaba reportedly holding a “Moderate Buy” consensus rating, which can help support sentiment but does not by itself change the investment thesis. Alibaba Group Holding Limited Given Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages
• Neutral Sentiment: Zacks articles note that BABA is trending with investors, suggesting elevated attention ahead of potential catalysts, though the coverage is more observational than fundamental. Here is What to Know Beyond Why Alibaba Group Holding Limited (BABA) is a Trending Stock
• Negative Sentiment: Some commentary says Alibaba is underperforming despite the broader AI boom, with investors concerned about costly cloud spending and margin pressure versus peers like Meta. That can weigh on the stock if sentiment shifts back toward profitability over growth. BABA vs. META: Which AI Data Center Giant Is the Better Bet?
• Negative Sentiment: One market note also highlighted that Alibaba shares have lagged other major Chinese tech names this year, reflecting ongoing skepticism around Chinese internet stocks despite AI enthusiasm. Here’s why Alibaba, Tencent, Xiaomi stocks are falling amid the AI boom

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on BABA shares. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective on Alibaba Group from $225.00 to $212.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 19th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Alibaba Group in a research report on Wednesday. Wall Street Zen upgraded Alibaba Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 23rd. HSBC boosted their price objective on Alibaba Group from $172.00 to $180.00 in a research report on Thursday, May 14th. Finally, Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on Alibaba Group from $174.00 to $164.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 20th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $188.76.

Alibaba Group Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of $298.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.41, a PEG ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.50. The company has a fifty day moving average of $131.01 and a 200 day moving average of $146.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 1.28 and a quick ratio of 1.28.

Alibaba Group (NYSE:BABA) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, March 31st. The specialty retailer reported $0.01 EPS for the quarter. Alibaba Group had a return on equity of 4.76% and a net margin of 10.31%.The firm had revenue of $35.30 billion for the quarter. On average, equities analysts predict that Alibaba Group Holding Limited will post 6.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alibaba Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced an annual dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, June 11th will be issued a dividend of $1.05 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 11th. This represents a yield of 72.0%. Alibaba Group’s payout ratio is presently 15.60%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Alibaba Group

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BABA. Transcend Capital Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Alibaba Group by 1.0% during the third quarter. Transcend Capital Advisors LLC now owns 6,661 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $1,191,000 after acquiring an additional 66 shares during the last quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Alibaba Group by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 16,420 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $2,407,000 after acquiring an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. Ameriflex Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Alibaba Group by 101.4% during the third quarter. Ameriflex Group Inc. now owns 143 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 72 shares during the last quarter. Highline Wealth Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Alibaba Group by 20.7% during the fourth quarter. Highline Wealth Partners LLC now owns 426 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $62,000 after acquiring an additional 73 shares during the last quarter. Finally, TrueWealth Financial Partners grew its stake in shares of Alibaba Group by 1.7% during the third quarter. TrueWealth Financial Partners now owns 4,361 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $779,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 13.47% of the company’s stock.

About Alibaba Group

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.