PBU The Pension Fund of Early Childhood & Youth Educators Acquires Shares of 321,279 NetEase, Inc. $NTES

PBU The Pension Fund of Early Childhood & Youth Educators acquired a new stake in shares of NetEase, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTES) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm acquired 321,279 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $44,214,000. NetEase makes up about 1.6% of PBU The Pension Fund of Early Childhood & Youth Educators’ holdings, making the stock its 6th biggest position. PBU The Pension Fund of Early Childhood & Youth Educators owned about 0.05% of NetEase as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in NTES. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC lifted its position in shares of NetEase by 125.8% during the 3rd quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC now owns 8,285 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,259,000 after buying an additional 4,616 shares during the last quarter. Range Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of NetEase in the 4th quarter valued at $1,759,000. Renaissance Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of NetEase in the 3rd quarter valued at $6,177,000. American Century Companies Inc. increased its holdings in shares of NetEase by 7.3% in the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 803,379 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $122,106,000 after acquiring an additional 54,929 shares during the period. Finally, Ovata Capital Management Ltd increased its holdings in shares of NetEase by 228.6% in the 3rd quarter. Ovata Capital Management Ltd now owns 25,300 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $3,850,000 after acquiring an additional 17,600 shares during the period. 11.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently commented on NTES. Wall Street Zen raised shares of NetEase from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, May 23rd. Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of NetEase in a report on Friday, May 22nd. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $158.00 target price on shares of NetEase in a report on Tuesday, May 26th. Nomura cut their target price on shares of NetEase from $160.00 to $155.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 13th. Finally, Barclays cut their target price on shares of NetEase from $135.00 to $132.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 12th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $157.38.

NetEase Stock Down 2.6%

Shares of NASDAQ:NTES opened at $119.48 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $76.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.87, a PEG ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 0.72. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $115.86 and its 200-day simple moving average is $124.93. NetEase, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $106.06 and a fifty-two week high of $159.55.

NetEase Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 18th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 5th will be issued a $0.72 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 5th. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.4%. NetEase’s payout ratio is presently 38.11%.

About NetEase

NetEase, Inc (NASDAQ: NTES) is a Chinese technology company headquartered in Hangzhou that develops and operates Internet services and products. Founded in 1997 by William Ding (Ding Lei), the company has grown from an early web portal and e-mail provider into a diversified online services group. William Ding has served as the company’s founder and long-time leader, guiding its expansion into games, digital content and consumer services.

The company’s primary business is interactive entertainment: NetEase Games designs, develops and publishes PC and mobile games for domestic and international audiences, offering a mix of self-developed franchises and titles published under licensing and strategic partnerships.