NetEase (NASDAQ:NTES) Downgraded to Buy at StockNews.com

StockNews.com lowered shares of NetEase (NASDAQ:NTES) from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a research report released on Thursday.

A number of other brokerages also recently issued reports on NTES. HSBC cut their price objective on shares of NetEase from $130.00 to $126.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an equal weight rating and issued a $100.00 target price (down previously from $120.00) on shares of NetEase in a report on Thursday, May 23rd. Barclays started coverage on shares of NetEase in a report on Thursday, June 13th. They issued an equal weight rating and a $104.00 target price for the company. Finally, Benchmark upped their target price on shares of NetEase from $144.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Friday, May 24th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $123.00.

NetEase Stock Down 0.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ NTES opened at $95.58 on Thursday. NetEase has a twelve month low of $81.30 and a twelve month high of $118.89. The firm has a market cap of $61.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.82, a PEG ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a 50 day moving average of $94.92 and a 200 day moving average of $98.34.

NetEase (NASDAQ:NTES) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 23rd. The technology company reported $1.63 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.68 by ($0.05). The company had revenue of $3.72 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.61 billion. NetEase had a net margin of 28.75% and a return on equity of 24.19%. As a group, equities analysts expect that NetEase will post 6.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

NetEase Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 21st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 6th were given a dividend of $0.495 per share. This represents a $1.98 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.07%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, June 6th. NetEase’s dividend payout ratio is 30.54%.

Institutional Trading of NetEase

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Boston Partners purchased a new stake in shares of NetEase during the 4th quarter valued at about $964,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its position in shares of NetEase by 451.3% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 511,454 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $47,647,000 after buying an additional 418,677 shares in the last quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its position in shares of NetEase by 879.6% during the 4th quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 28,311 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $2,637,000 after buying an additional 25,421 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its position in shares of NetEase by 64.5% during the 4th quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 56,809 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $5,292,000 after buying an additional 22,268 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AI Squared Management Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of NetEase during the 4th quarter valued at about $7,322,000. 11.07% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

NetEase Company Profile

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.