Investors Purchase Large Volume of KE Call Options (NYSE:BEKE)

KE Holdings Inc. Sponsored ADR (NYSE:BEKE) saw unusually large options trading activity on Friday. Investors purchased 7,199 call options on the company. This represents an increase of 242% compared to the average volume of 2,105 call options.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently weighed in on BEKE. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of KE from $23.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 20th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of KE in a research note on Friday, August 21st. Wall Street Zen upgraded KE from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 29th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of KE in a research note on Wednesday, June 24th. Finally, CLSA assumed coverage on KE in a report on Wednesday, August 19th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $23.80 price target on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $23.64.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd boosted its position in shares of KE by 330.2% during the fourth quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 2,280 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 1,750 shares in the last quarter. Strs Ohio acquired a new stake in KE during the 1st quarter worth $44,000. Allworth Financial LP lifted its holdings in KE by 254.4% during the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 2,910 shares of the company’s stock worth $46,000 after acquiring an additional 2,089 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in KE by 145.1% in the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,812 shares of the company’s stock valued at $68,000 after acquiring an additional 2,257 shares during the period. Finally, Fideuram Asset Management Ireland dac acquired a new position in KE in the fourth quarter valued at about $88,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 39.34% of the company’s stock.

KE Trading Up 1.3%

NYSE BEKE opened at $16.90 on Friday. KE has a 12 month low of $13.81 and a 12 month high of $20.98. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $16.93 and a 200 day simple moving average of $16.55. The company has a current ratio of 3.30, a quick ratio of 3.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. The company has a market capitalization of $18.91 billion, a PE ratio of 27.71, a P/E/G ratio of 0.63 and a beta of -0.26.

KE (NYSE:BEKE) last issued its earnings results on Friday, August 21st. The company reported $0.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.31 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $3.61 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.59 billion. KE had a return on equity of 7.62% and a net margin of 5.38%. Research analysts forecast that KE will post 0.88 EPS for the current year.

About KE

KE Holdings Inc, operating under the brand name Beike, is a China-based platform that provides residential real estate transaction and related services. The company connects home buyers, sellers, landlords and tenants with real estate agents and brokerage stores through its online and offline network.

Its services include existing-home sales, new-home sales, residential rentals and property-related services. Beike also provides technology and data tools for real estate professionals, including digital listings, transaction support and virtual-reality viewing capabilities.