Commonwealth Equity Services LLC Cuts Stake in NetEase, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTES)

Commonwealth Equity Services LLC reduced its holdings in NetEase, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTES) by 9.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 4,319 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 476 shares during the quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC’s holdings in NetEase were worth $413,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank raised its position in shares of NetEase by 6.3% in the second quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 8,508 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $813,000 after buying an additional 506 shares during the last quarter. Ridgewood Investments LLC grew its stake in NetEase by 25.2% in the 2nd quarter. Ridgewood Investments LLC now owns 5,535 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $529,000 after acquiring an additional 1,114 shares during the period. Financial Advocates Investment Management acquired a new position in NetEase in the 2nd quarter valued at $421,000. Advisory Resource Group lifted its stake in shares of NetEase by 24.1% during the 2nd quarter. Advisory Resource Group now owns 10,345 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $989,000 after purchasing an additional 2,010 shares during the period. Finally, Fifth Third Bancorp boosted its holdings in shares of NetEase by 1.9% during the second quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 7,658 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $732,000 after purchasing an additional 146 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 11.07% of the company’s stock.

NetEase Stock Performance

Shares of NTES stock opened at $78.90 on Monday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $85.89 and its 200 day simple moving average is $93.01. NetEase, Inc. has a twelve month low of $75.85 and a twelve month high of $118.89. The company has a market capitalization of $50.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.23, a PEG ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 0.54.

NetEase (NASDAQ:NTES) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 22nd. The technology company reported $12.05 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.62 by $10.43. The firm had revenue of $25.49 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $26.01 billion. NetEase had a net margin of 26.98% and a return on equity of 22.30%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.75 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that NetEase, Inc. will post 6.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

NetEase Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 20th. Investors of record on Friday, September 6th were issued a dividend of $0.435 per share. This represents a $1.74 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.21%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 6th. NetEase’s payout ratio is currently 26.82%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

NTES has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of NetEase from $104.00 to $82.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 26th. StockNews.com lowered shares of NetEase from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, July 20th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price objective on NetEase from $126.00 to $103.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 22nd. Bank of America reduced their target price on NetEase from $142.00 to $120.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley restated an “equal weight” rating and set a $100.00 price target on shares of NetEase in a research note on Friday, July 5th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $112.67.

NetEase Company 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.