NetEase (NASDAQ:NTES) Cut to “Hold” at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen lowered shares of NetEase (NASDAQ:NTES) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note published on Sunday morning.

Several other analysts have also recently weighed in on NTES. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $169.00 price target on NetEase in a report on Wednesday, July 1st. Weiss Ratings raised NetEase from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Monday, July 20th. Benchmark reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of NetEase in a research report on Friday, May 22nd. Zacks Research downgraded NetEase from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, July 27th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $158.00 target price on shares of NetEase in a research report on Tuesday, May 26th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, NetEase currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $158.38.

NetEase Stock Down 0.7%

Shares of NASDAQ:NTES opened at $130.60 on Friday. NetEase has a 12-month low of $106.06 and a 12-month high of $159.55. The business has a 50 day moving average of $125.82 and a 200-day moving average of $121.11. The stock has a market cap of $83.62 billion, a PE ratio of 17.34, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.73.

NetEase Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 18th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 5th were given a $0.72 dividend. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 5th. NetEase’s payout ratio is presently 38.11%.

Insider Activity

In related news, General Counsel Paul William Boltz, Jr. sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $128.30, for a total value of $1,283,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel directly owned 12,223 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,568,210.90. The trade was a 45.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 54.70% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On NetEase

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in NTES. V Square Quantitative Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of NetEase during the 1st quarter valued at $25,000. Atlas Capital Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of NetEase in the fourth quarter worth $47,000. Harbour Investments Inc. raised its stake in NetEase by 7,480.0% in the fourth quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 379 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $52,000 after purchasing an additional 374 shares in the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its stake in NetEase by 3,381.8% in the second quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 383 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $51,000 after purchasing an additional 372 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MidFirst Bank acquired a new position in NetEase in the fourth quarter valued at about $57,000. Institutional investors own 11.07% of the company’s stock.

NetEase Company Profile

NetEase, Inc (NASDAQ: NTES) is a Chinese technology company headquartered in Hangzhou that develops and operates Internet services and products. Founded in 1997 by William Ding (Ding Lei), the company has grown from an early web portal and e-mail provider into a diversified online services group. William Ding has served as the company’s founder and long-time leader, guiding its expansion into games, digital content and consumer services.

The company’s primary business is interactive entertainment: NetEase Games designs, develops and publishes PC and mobile games for domestic and international audiences, offering a mix of self-developed franchises and titles published under licensing and strategic partnerships.