Citigroup Issues Positive Forecast for NetEase (NASDAQ:NTES) Stock Price

NetEase (NASDAQ:NTES) had its price objective hoisted by Citigroup from $108.00 to $115.00 in a report published on Friday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a buy rating on the technology company’s stock.

A number of other brokerages also recently commented on NTES. Bank of America lowered their target price on NetEase from $142.00 to $120.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. StockNews.com lowered shares of NetEase from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, July 20th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their target price on shares of NetEase from $126.00 to $103.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 22nd. Benchmark reduced their price objective on shares of NetEase from $120.00 to $105.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday. Finally, Barclays decreased their price target on NetEase from $104.00 to $82.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 26th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $107.29.

NetEase Stock Up 1.5 %

Shares of NetEase stock traded up $1.27 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $85.49. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,041,932 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,748,095. NetEase has a 1-year low of $75.85 and a 1-year high of $118.89. The firm has a market capitalization of $54.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.95, a PEG ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.57. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $83.75 and a 200-day simple moving average of $89.01.

NetEase (NASDAQ:NTES) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 22nd. The technology company reported $12.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.62 by $10.43. NetEase had a net margin of 26.98% and a return on equity of 22.30%. The business had revenue of $25.49 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $26.01 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.75 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that NetEase will post 6.02 earnings per share for the current year.

NetEase Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 29th will be given a $0.435 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 29th. This represents a $1.74 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.04%. NetEase’s dividend payout ratio is 28.22%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On NetEase

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of NTES. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio bought a new position in shares of NetEase during the 3rd quarter worth about $11,636,000. MML Investors Services LLC grew its position in NetEase by 12.1% during the third quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 3,954 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $370,000 after buying an additional 428 shares in the last quarter. XTX Topco Ltd bought a new position in NetEase during the third quarter valued at about $274,000. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of NetEase by 75.6% in the third quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC now owns 14,167 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,323,000 after purchasing an additional 6,099 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in shares of NetEase by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,020,213 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $95,400,000 after buying an additional 10,920 shares in the last quarter. 11.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.