Verus Capital Partners LLC Has $608,000 Stock Holdings in Alibaba Group Holding Limited $BABA

Verus Capital Partners LLC decreased its stake in Alibaba Group Holding Limited (NYSE:BABA) by 47.7% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 4,850 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 4,427 shares during the period. Verus Capital Partners LLC’s holdings in Alibaba Group were worth $608,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. increased 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 worth $881,554,000 after purchasing an additional 5,936,847 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Alibaba Group during the 4th quarter worth approximately $594,477,000. Altshuler Shaham Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Alibaba Group in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $160,410,000. Third Point LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Alibaba Group in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $120,928,000. Finally, Bbfit Investments PTE Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Alibaba Group in the fourth quarter valued at $106,828,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 13.47% of the company’s stock.

Alibaba Group Stock Up 5.3%

BABA stock opened at $122.44 on Friday. Alibaba Group Holding Limited has a 1-year low of $91.99 and a 1-year high of $192.67. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $112.84 and its 200 day simple moving average is $132.85. The company has a current ratio of 1.28, a quick ratio of 1.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. The firm has a market capitalization of $293.48 billion, a PE ratio of 20.10, a PEG ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 0.51.

Alibaba Group (NYSE:BABA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, March 31st. The specialty retailer reported $0.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. Alibaba Group had a return on equity of 4.76% and a net margin of 10.31%.The business had revenue of $35.30 billion during the quarter. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Alibaba Group Holding Limited will post 6.31 EPS for the current year.

Alibaba Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced an annual dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 11th were paid a dividend of $1.05 per share. This represents a dividend yield of 93.0%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, June 11th. Alibaba Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 16.91%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have issued reports on the stock. HSBC set a $170.00 price target on shares of Alibaba Group in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Zacks Research raised shares of Alibaba Group from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Freedom Capital upgraded shares of Alibaba Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Mizuho upped their target price on shares of Alibaba Group from $190.00 to $195.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, May 14th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Alibaba Group from $180.00 to $190.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 14th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $186.90.

More Alibaba Group News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Moonshot reportedly built its Kimi AI models with access to a large Nvidia-chip cluster leased through Alibaba. The arrangement could support Alibaba Cloud revenue growth, improve data-center utilization and reinforce the company’s position as a leading Chinese AI-computing provider. Moonshot has Nvidia chip cluster from Alibaba computing deal
• Positive Sentiment: The Moonshot news boosted optimism that Alibaba’s AI spending can translate into commercial cloud demand, while broader strength in technology stocks provided a favorable backdrop for BABA. Alibaba’s AI Bet Is Powering a Rival
• Positive Sentiment: Erste Group Bank raised its Alibaba EPS forecasts to $5.84 for fiscal 2027 and $8.46 for fiscal 2028, up from previous estimates. The revisions signal improving expectations for Alibaba’s longer-term earnings power. Erste Group Bank raises Alibaba earnings estimates
• Neutral Sentiment: Alibaba’s AI customer is also an AI competitor, creating a trade-off: cloud usage generates revenue, but Moonshot and other customers could develop competing services that challenge Alibaba’s own AI offerings. Alibaba’s Biggest AI Customer Is Also Its Rival
• Negative Sentiment: Rosen Law Firm and Pomerantz separately announced investigations into potential securities claims involving allegedly misleading company information. These announcements do not establish wrongdoing, but they add legal and reputational risk for shareholders. Rosen Law Firm Alibaba investigation

Insider Buying and Selling at Alibaba Group

In other Alibaba Group news, CFO Hong Xu sold 175,054 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $12.15, for a total value of $2,126,906.10. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 280,496 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,408,026.40. This represents a 38.43% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, insider Fang Jiang sold 4,898 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $12.09, for a total value of $59,216.82. Following the sale, the insider owned 5,559,511 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $67,214,487.99. This represents a 0.09% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders have sold a total of 920,303 shares of company stock worth $70,796,370 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 12.50% 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.