NetEase (NASDAQ:NTES) Reaches New 52-Week High on Analyst Upgrade

NetEase, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTES) reached a new 52-week high during trading on Friday after Barclays raised their price target on the stock from $104.00 to $118.00. Barclays currently has an equal weight rating on the stock. NetEase traded as high as $123.56 and last traded at $122.76, with a volume of 4242288 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $107.11.

NTES has been the subject of several other reports. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of NetEase from $108.00 to $117.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Benchmark lifted their price target on shares of NetEase from $105.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft initiated coverage on shares of NetEase in a report on Monday, May 12th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $130.00 price target for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $117.14.

Institutional Trading of NetEase

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of NTES. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in NetEase by 7.9% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 6,915 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $588,000 after purchasing an additional 507 shares during the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group bought a new stake in NetEase in the 4th quarter valued at about $34,000. UMB Bank n.a. raised its position in shares of NetEase by 33.3% during the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 444 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 111 shares in the last quarter. Guinness Asset Management LTD raised its position in shares of NetEase by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Guinness Asset Management LTD now owns 87,521 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $7,808,000 after buying an additional 780 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ballentine Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of NetEase during the 4th quarter worth about $288,000. 11.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

NetEase Trading Down 2.6%

The company has a market capitalization of $75.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.77, a P/E/G ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 0.66. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $102.66 and its 200 day simple moving average is $97.21.

NetEase (NASDAQ:NTES) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The technology company reported $1.87 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.73 by $0.14. NetEase had a net margin of 28.17% and a return on equity of 22.12%. The company had revenue of $3.66 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $27.16 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that NetEase, Inc. will post 6.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

NetEase Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 20th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 6th were given a dividend of $0.435 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 6th. This represents a $1.74 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.46%. NetEase’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 38.85%.

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.