NetEase, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTES) Shares Bought by Aurora Investment Counsel

Aurora Investment Counsel lifted its holdings in shares of NetEase, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTES) by 9.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 28,692 shares of the technology company’s stock after buying an additional 2,387 shares during the period. NetEase makes up about 1.4% of Aurora Investment Counsel’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 16th largest holding. Aurora Investment Counsel’s holdings in NetEase were worth $2,560,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of NetEase by 81.7% in the 4th quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 338 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 152 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of NetEase by 112.1% during the fourth quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 8,330 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $743,000 after acquiring an additional 4,402 shares in the last quarter. Davis Selected Advisers acquired a new stake in NetEase during the fourth quarter valued at $53,287,000. Generali Investments CEE investicni spolecnost a.s. purchased a new position in NetEase in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,539,000. Finally, Greenwoods Asset Management Hong Kong Ltd. increased its position in NetEase by 10.8% in the 4th quarter. Greenwoods Asset Management Hong Kong Ltd. now owns 3,632,870 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $324,088,000 after purchasing an additional 354,273 shares during the last quarter. 11.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

NTES has been the subject of several research reports. Citigroup lifted their price target on NetEase from $108.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of NetEase from $120.00 to $122.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of NetEase from $82.00 to $104.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 24th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of NetEase from $108.00 to $117.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Benchmark upped their price target on NetEase from $105.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $114.57.

NetEase Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:NTES opened at $103.54 on Friday. NetEase, Inc. has a 52-week low of $75.85 and a 52-week high of $110.15. The company has a market cap of $66.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.25, a P/E/G ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 0.61. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $100.61 and its 200-day moving average is $90.99.

NetEase (NASDAQ:NTES) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The technology company reported $1.87 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.73 by $0.14. NetEase had a return on equity of 22.12% and a net margin of 28.17%. The company had revenue of $3.66 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $27.16 billion. As a group, equities analysts predict that NetEase, Inc. will post 6.91 EPS for the current year.

NetEase Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 20th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 6th will be given a $0.435 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 6th. This represents a $1.74 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.68%. NetEase’s dividend payout ratio is 76.45%.

NetEase 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.