Traders Buy Large Volume of Call Options on KE (NYSE:BEKE)

KE Holdings Inc. (NYSE:BEKE) saw some unusual options trading on Monday. Traders bought 36,331 call options on the stock. This is an increase of 144% compared to the typical volume of 14,864 call options.

Institutional Trading of KE

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of KE during the third quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Quantinno Capital Management LP increased its position in shares of KE by 32.3% during the 3rd quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 21,774 shares of the company’s stock valued at $434,000 after purchasing an additional 5,317 shares during the period. XTX Topco Ltd raised its stake in shares of KE by 324.8% in the 3rd quarter. XTX Topco Ltd now owns 117,780 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,345,000 after buying an additional 90,054 shares in the last quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of KE in the third quarter valued at $13,540,000. Finally, Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio bought a new position in KE during the third quarter valued at about $4,611,000. 39.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BEKE has been the topic of several recent research reports. UBS Group downgraded KE from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $22.70 to $24.50 in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of KE in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of KE from $19.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $27.26.

KE Price Performance

Shares of KE stock opened at $18.35 on Tuesday. KE has a 1-year low of $12.49 and a 1-year high of $26.05. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $20.74 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $20.00. The company has a market capitalization of $22.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.44, a PEG ratio of 3.45 and a beta of -0.73.

KE Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a — dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 25th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 9th will be issued a $0.36 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 9th. This represents a yield of 1.4%. This is an increase from KE’s previous — dividend of $0.17. KE’s dividend payout ratio is presently 64.58%.

KE Company Profile

KE Holdings Inc, through its subsidiaries, engages in operating an integrated online and offline platform for housing transactions and services in the People's Republic of China. It operates through four segments: Existing Home Transaction Services, New Home Transaction Services, Home Renovation and Furnishing, and Emerging and Other Services.