KE (NYSE:BEKE) Stock Price Down 4.3%

KE Holdings Inc. (NYSE:BEKE) dropped 4.3% during trading on Friday . The company traded as low as $13.54 and last traded at $13.57. Approximately 940,286 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 88% from the average daily volume of 7,574,131 shares. The stock had previously closed at $14.18.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BEKE has been the topic of a number of research reports. HSBC reduced their price objective on KE from $23.90 to $21.80 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 15th. Citigroup reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $21.10 price objective on shares of KE in a research note on Tuesday, March 19th.

KE Stock Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $16.23 billion, a PE ratio of 19.07, a PEG ratio of 0.38 and a beta of -0.73. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $13.78 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $14.72.

KE (NYSE:BEKE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 14th. The company reported $0.11 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.08 by $0.03. KE had a return on equity of 9.19% and a net margin of 7.62%. The firm had revenue of $2.85 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.66 billion. On average, equities analysts anticipate that KE Holdings Inc. will post 0.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

KE Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced an annual dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 24th. Investors of record on Friday, April 5th will be given a dividend of $0.351 per share. This represents a yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 4th. KE’s dividend payout ratio is currently 44.93%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise raised its stake in shares of KE by 71.4% in the first quarter. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise now owns 120,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,648,000 after purchasing an additional 50,000 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in KE by 12.0% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 18,807,246 shares of the company’s stock valued at $304,865,000 after acquiring an additional 2,008,418 shares in the last quarter. Dodge & Cox raised its position in KE by 5.8% during the fourth quarter. Dodge & Cox now owns 38,440 shares of the company’s stock valued at $623,000 after acquiring an additional 2,100 shares in the last quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main raised its position in KE by 5.7% during the fourth quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 182,281 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,955,000 after acquiring an additional 9,900 shares in the last quarter. Finally, DRW Securities LLC purchased a new position in KE during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $247,000. 39.34% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

KE Company Profile

KE Holdings Inc, through its subsidiaries, engages in operating an integrated online and offline platform for housing transactions and services in the People's Republic of China. It operates through four segments: Existing Home Transaction Services, New Home Transaction Services, Home Renovation and Furnishing, and Emerging and Other Services.