Arete Research Upgrades NetEase (NASDAQ:NTES) to “Strong-Buy”

Arete Research upgraded shares of NetEase (NASDAQ:NTES) to a strong-buy rating in a research report released on Wednesday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other brokerages have also weighed in on NTES. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered shares of NetEase from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $135.00 to $140.00 in a report on Monday, July 28th. Arete upgraded shares of NetEase from a “sell” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $150.00 price objective for the company in a report on Wednesday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft assumed coverage on shares of NetEase in a report on Monday, May 12th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $130.00 price objective for the company. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of NetEase from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 30th. Finally, Barclays set a $120.00 target price on shares of NetEase and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $128.78.

NetEase Stock Up 0.8%

Shares of NASDAQ NTES opened at $134.27 on Wednesday. NetEase has a twelve month low of $75.85 and a twelve month high of $141.45. The firm has a market cap of $85.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.17, a PEG ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 0.67. The company has a 50 day moving average of $132.85 and a 200 day moving average of $117.99.

NetEase Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 28th will be paid a $0.675 dividend. This represents a $2.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 28th. NetEase’s dividend payout ratio is 30.72%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On NetEase

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of NTES. Brighton Jones LLC increased its stake in shares of NetEase by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 10,297 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $919,000 after purchasing an additional 117 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of NetEase by 129.0% in the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 5,821 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $519,000 after purchasing an additional 3,279 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in shares of NetEase by 138.5% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 430,653 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $38,419,000 after purchasing an additional 250,111 shares in the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth purchased a new stake in NetEase in the 4th quarter worth $310,000. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC increased its stake in NetEase by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 3,599,794 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $321,137,000 after buying an additional 69,789 shares in the last quarter. 11.07% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.