Hedge Funds And Alibaba: Who's Been Bullish?

Alibaba Group Holding Ltd BABA was down about 2.5 percent on December 23.

Despite this dip, the average shareholder has done well to invest in the stock post-IPO, with shares up about 12.3 percent since that time.

So, who's likely benefited in the hedge fund space?

Related Link: The Opportunity & Risks For Alibaba In 2015

Viking Global

As of its latest Q3 13F filing, Andreas Halvorsen's Viking Global was the largest hedge fund investor in the Chinese e-commerce company. According to the filing, the fund may own about 11.38 million shares of the company, worth more than $1 billion.

Viking Global’s top pick, Illumina, Inc. ILMN, is up about 67.7 percent year-to-date.

Discovery Capital Management

Discovery Capital Management also appears bullish on Alibaba, having disclosed ownership of 10.39 million shares by the end of Q3. This stake may comprise approximately 10.4 percent of its total equity portfolio compared to 4 percent (in Viking Global’s case) worth about $8.8 billion.

Tiger Management

Tiger Management, meanwhile, has also been highly involved in Alibaba, having more than 28.6 percent of its equity portfolio invested in it. This was its largest position for the third quarter of the year, comprising 1.2 million shares, or more than $100 million in stock.

Analyst Opinion

What about Wall Street research firms? Most see plenty of upside.

In November, Cantor Fitzgerald issued a Buy rating accompanied by a $110 price target; HSBC has an Overweight with a $148 target; Bank of America holds a Buy at $132; and Oppenheimer sports an Outperform at $133.

Shares currently trade near $106 at the time of this writing.