LPL Financial LLC Trims Stake in NetEase, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTES)

LPL Financial LLC reduced its position in shares of NetEase, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTES – Get Rating) by 2.3% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 25,640 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 609 shares during the period. LPL Financial LLC’s holdings in NetEase were worth $1,862,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of NTES. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp purchased a new position in NetEase during the 1st quarter worth $1,135,000. Sei Investments Co. raised its position in shares of NetEase by 2.5% in the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 15,901 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,432,000 after acquiring an additional 386 shares in the last quarter. Candriam Luxembourg S.C.A. bought a new position in shares of NetEase in the 1st quarter worth $8,461,000. West Family Investments Inc. bought a new position in shares of NetEase in the 1st quarter worth $266,000. Finally, XTX Topco Ltd bought a new position in shares of NetEase in the 1st quarter worth $246,000. 13.50% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

NetEase Trading Down 5.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ:NTES opened at $83.77 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 2.32 and a quick ratio of 2.30. The business’s 50-day moving average is $88.56 and its 200 day moving average is $81.95. The firm has a market capitalization of $54.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.41 and a beta of 0.50. NetEase, Inc. has a 1 year low of $53.09 and a 1 year high of $108.77.

NetEase (NASDAQ:NTES – Get Rating) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 23rd. The technology company reported $0.88 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.12 by ($0.24). The firm had revenue of $3.68 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.69 billion. NetEase had a net margin of 20.99% and a return on equity of 18.49%. On average, research analysts predict that NetEase, Inc. will post 4.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

NetEase Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 24th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 9th were paid a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 8th. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.29%. NetEase’s payout ratio is presently 23.52%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised NetEase from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $85.00 to $100.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 28th. StockNews.com assumed coverage on NetEase in a research report on Thursday, May 18th. They issued a “buy” rating for the company. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price target on NetEase from $100.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 27th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $108.80.

NetEase Profile

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NetEase, Inc is an internet technology company, which engages in the provision of premium online services centered around content, community, communication and commerce. It develops and operates some of the most popular PC-client and mobile games in China. The firm also operates some of the most popular international online games in China by partnering with Blizzard Entertainment, Mojang AB (a Microsoft subsidiary) and other global game developers.