NetEase, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTES) Receives Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Shares of NetEase, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTES) have earned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the seven research firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation and six have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year target price among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $114.57.

NTES has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Barclays upped their target price on NetEase from $82.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, February 24th. Benchmark upped their target price on NetEase from $105.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Citigroup upped their target price on NetEase from $108.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on NetEase from $108.00 to $117.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered NetEase from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On NetEase

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its position in shares of NetEase by 13,747.9% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 6,258,442 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $585,227,000 after purchasing an additional 6,213,248 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors boosted its position in shares of NetEase by 40.6% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 3,725,046 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $332,311,000 after purchasing an additional 1,074,818 shares in the last quarter. Greenwoods Asset Management Hong Kong Ltd. boosted its position in shares of NetEase by 10.8% during the 4th quarter. Greenwoods Asset Management Hong Kong Ltd. now owns 3,632,870 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $324,088,000 after purchasing an additional 354,273 shares in the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of NetEase by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 3,599,794 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $321,137,000 after purchasing an additional 69,789 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dodge & Cox boosted its position in shares of NetEase by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Dodge & Cox now owns 2,649,876 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $236,395,000 after purchasing an additional 15,900 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 11.07% of the company’s stock.

NetEase Stock Performance

NetEase stock opened at $99.72 on Monday. NetEase has a 52 week low of $75.85 and a 52 week high of $113.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $64.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 0.58. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $98.52 and a 200-day moving average of $90.16.

NetEase (NASDAQ:NTES) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The technology company reported $1.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.73 by $0.14. NetEase had a return on equity of 22.12% and a net margin of 28.17%. The business had revenue of $3.66 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $27.16 billion. On average, research analysts forecast that NetEase will post 6.91 earnings per share for the current year.

NetEase Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 20th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 6th will be given a $0.435 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 6th. This represents a $1.74 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.74%. NetEase’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 76.45%.

About NetEase

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.