Benchmark Raises NetEase (NASDAQ:NTES) Price Target to $140.00

NetEase (NASDAQ:NTES) had its price objective boosted by Benchmark from $130.00 to $140.00 in a research note released on Friday morning, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a buy rating on the technology company’s stock.

A number of other research analysts also recently issued reports on NTES. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on NetEase from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a report on Tuesday, August 29th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of NetEase from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a report on Tuesday, November 14th. Citigroup lowered their price target on shares of NetEase from $134.00 to $132.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 25th. Finally, Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of NetEase from $128.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Friday, August 25th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, NetEase presently has a consensus rating of Buy and a consensus price target of $126.00.

NetEase Stock Up 1.1 %

NASDAQ:NTES opened at $118.47 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 2.93 and a quick ratio of 2.91. NetEase has a 1-year low of $63.25 and a 1-year high of $118.89. The company has a 50-day moving average of $105.51 and a 200 day moving average of $100.46. The firm has a market cap of $76.38 billion, a PE ratio of 20.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 0.56.

NetEase (NASDAQ:NTES) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 16th. The technology company reported $13.30 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $10.87 by $2.43. The business had revenue of $27.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $27.26 billion. NetEase had a net margin of 26.21% and a return on equity of 23.33%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 13.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.43 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that NetEase will post 6.26 EPS for the current fiscal year.

NetEase Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 1st will be issued a $0.495 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 30th. This represents a $1.98 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.67%. NetEase’s dividend payout ratio is currently 36.10%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On NetEase

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Morgan Stanley increased its holdings in shares of NetEase by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 3,333,468 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $242,110,000 after purchasing an additional 98,751 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in NetEase by 13.7% in the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,580,905 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $141,792,000 after buying an additional 191,068 shares during the period. Nuveen Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in NetEase by 98.9% during the 2nd quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 1,484,772 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $143,563,000 after acquiring an additional 738,249 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of NetEase by 1.4% in the second quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 1,425,451 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $137,826,000 after acquiring an additional 19,725 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE raised its holdings in shares of NetEase by 20.1% during the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 1,140,858 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $100,898,000 after purchasing an additional 190,905 shares during the last quarter. 11.78% of the stock is 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.