NetEase, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTES) Given Average Rating of “Buy” by Brokerages

NetEase, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTES) has been given an average recommendation of “Buy” by the seven brokerages that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a buy recommendation. The average 12 month target price among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $126.00.

NTES has been the topic of a number of research reports. StockNews.com cut NetEase from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 29th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of NetEase from $135.00 to $120.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 12th. Finally, HSBC decreased their price objective on NetEase from $130.00 to $126.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 24th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On NetEase

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its holdings in shares of NetEase by 451.3% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 511,454 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $47,647,000 after purchasing an additional 418,677 shares during the last quarter. WT Asset Management Ltd increased its position in NetEase by 381.1% in the 4th quarter. WT Asset Management Ltd now owns 996,686 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $92,851,000 after acquiring an additional 789,499 shares in the last quarter. FDx Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of NetEase by 11.6% in the third quarter. FDx Advisors Inc. now owns 8,352 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $837,000 after acquiring an additional 871 shares during the last quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd acquired a new position in shares of NetEase during the third quarter worth approximately $12,017,000. Finally, China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of NetEase during the third quarter worth approximately $1,102,000. 11.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

NetEase Stock Performance

NASDAQ:NTES opened at $101.86 on Tuesday. NetEase has a 52 week low of $80.79 and a 52 week high of $118.89. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $101.09 and its 200 day moving average price is $102.61. The company has a market capitalization of $65.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.09, a P/E/G ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 0.58.

NetEase (NASDAQ:NTES) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 29th. The technology company reported $1.42 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.62 by ($0.20). NetEase had a net margin of 28.39% and a return on equity of 24.36%. The company had revenue of $3.82 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.96 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that NetEase will post 7.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

NetEase Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 14th were paid a dividend of $1.08 per share. This represents a $4.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.24%. This is a boost from NetEase’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 13th. NetEase’s dividend payout ratio is currently 68.09%.

About NetEase

NetEase, Inc engages in online games, music streaming, online intelligent learning services, and internet content services businesses in China and internationally . The company operates through Games and Related Value-Added Services, Youdao, Cloud Music, and Innovative Businesses and Others segments.