Investors Purchase High Volume of KE Put Options (NYSE:BEKE)

KE Holdings Inc. Sponsored ADR (NYSE:BEKE) was the recipient of some unusual options trading on Wednesday. Investors bought 20,045 put options on the company. This represents an increase of 464% compared to the typical daily volume of 3,553 put options.

KE Stock Performance

BEKE stock opened at $15.73 on Thursday. KE has a twelve month low of $15.18 and a twelve month high of $22.25. The company has a quick ratio of 3.02, a current ratio of 2.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. The company has a market cap of $17.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.58 and a beta of -0.62. The business’s fifty day moving average is $17.36 and its 200-day moving average is $17.52.

KE Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced an annual dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 24th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 8th will be issued a dividend of $0.276 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 8th. This represents a yield of 167.0%. KE’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 86.11%.

Institutional Trading of KE

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Corient Private Wealth LLC raised its position in shares of KE by 62.0% in the 4th quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 20,350 shares of the company’s stock valued at $320,000 after acquiring an additional 7,786 shares during the period. XTX Topco Ltd grew its holdings in KE by 615.6% during the fourth quarter. XTX Topco Ltd now owns 122,161 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,925,000 after purchasing an additional 105,091 shares during the period. DV Equities LLC acquired a new position in KE during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $10,720,000. Lazard Asset Management LLC increased its stake in KE by 26.7% in the fourth quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 188,137 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,965,000 after purchasing an additional 39,666 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Laird Norton Wetherby Trust Company LLC bought a new stake in KE in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $292,000. 39.34% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BEKE has been the subject of several research reports. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of KE in a research note on Monday, December 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group cut KE from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $19.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Barclays set a $23.00 price objective on KE in a report on Thursday, February 19th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of KE from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Sunday. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, KE currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $21.63.

About KE

KE Holdings Inc (NYSE: BEKE) is a technology-driven real estate services company that operates an integrated online and offline platform for housing transactions and related services in mainland China. The company provides consumer-facing property listing marketplaces alongside a broad network of offline brokerage offices and agents, aiming to facilitate sales, rentals and new-home transactions for individual and institutional clients.

The company’s offerings span property listings for new and resale homes, rental listings, brokerage representation and transaction facilitation.