Alibaba Group (NYSE:BABA) Rating Increased to Hold at Zacks Research

Zacks Research upgraded shares of Alibaba Group (NYSE:BABA) from a strong sell rating to a hold rating in a research note published on Tuesday morning,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other research firms have also commented on BABA. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective on shares of Alibaba Group from $225.00 to $212.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 19th. Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on shares of Alibaba Group from $174.00 to $164.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 20th. Susquehanna upped their price objective on shares of Alibaba Group from $170.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research note on Friday, May 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Alibaba Group from $200.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 14th. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane assumed coverage on shares of Alibaba Group in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $209.00 target price on the stock. Two research 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.com, Alibaba Group currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $188.76.

Alibaba Group Trading Down 2.5%

NYSE:BABA opened at $127.49 on Tuesday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $131.01 and its 200-day moving average is $145.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 1.28 and a current ratio of 1.28. Alibaba Group has a 52 week low of $103.71 and a 52 week high of $192.67. The firm has a market cap of $305.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.93, a P/E/G ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 0.47.

Alibaba Group (NYSE:BABA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, March 31st. The specialty retailer reported $0.01 EPS for the quarter. Alibaba Group had a net margin of 10.31% and a return on equity of 4.76%. The company had revenue of $35.30 billion for the quarter. Equities analysts expect that Alibaba Group will post 6.75 earnings per share for the current year.

Alibaba Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced an annual dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, June 11th will be paid 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 dividend payout ratio is currently 15.60%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Capital World Investors lifted its stake 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 stake in shares of Alibaba Group by 7,680.3% in the fourth 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 stake in shares of Alibaba Group by 0.8% in the fourth 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 bought a new position in shares of Alibaba Group in the fourth quarter valued at $594,477,000. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Alibaba Group by 17.7% in the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,987,539 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $533,964,000 after buying an additional 448,484 shares in the last quarter. 13.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Trending Headlines about Alibaba Group

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

• Positive Sentiment: Alibaba is expanding its Qwen AI platform into commerce use cases, including ordering and payments inside chat, which could deepen user engagement and create new monetization opportunities. Alibaba Opens Qwen To Brands – Aims To Build AI-Powered Commerce Network
• Positive Sentiment: The company unveiled a major AI stack overhaul and continued to expand its Qwen model family, signaling stronger cloud and AI revenue potential; Benchmark also reaffirmed its Buy rating. Alibaba (BABA) Expands AI Capabilities as Benchmark Reaffirms Buy Rating
• Positive Sentiment: Alibaba announced a multi-year UEFA partnership covering AI, cloud computing, and e-commerce, giving the company a high-profile international showcase for its technology stack. Alibaba Group partners with UEFA Men’s Club Competitions from 2027/28 to 2032/33 and UEFA EURO 2028
• Positive Sentiment: Alibaba Cloud signed new AI-focused partnerships, including with Manulife Hong Kong and Singapore tourism-related initiatives, which may support adoption of its enterprise AI services. Manulife Hong Kong and Alibaba Cloud Sign Strategic Partnership to Accelerate and Scale AI Innovation
• Neutral Sentiment: Alibaba confirmed a routine share-capital update and public float compliance in May 2026, which appears administrative rather than a major operating catalyst. Alibaba Reports Modest Share Increase and Confirms Public Float Compliance in May 2026
• Neutral Sentiment: Several articles note unchanged analyst price targets and broader investor attention on Alibaba’s evolving AI story, suggesting sentiment is constructive but not driven by a single new financial update. How Alibaba Group Holding (BABA) The Evolving Story Connects To Unchanged Analyst Price Targets
• Negative Sentiment: Some investors may view the latest AI rollouts as still early-stage and costly to commercialize, especially since newer Qwen models remain proprietary and closed-API only. Alibaba’s Qwen3.7-Plus supports text, video and imagery inputs at low cost of $0.4/$1.6 per 1M token — but it’s proprietary

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.