Northern Trust Corp Purchases 250,111 Shares of NetEase, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTES)

Northern Trust Corp grew its position in shares of NetEase, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTES) by 138.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 430,653 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 250,111 shares during the quarter. Northern Trust Corp’s holdings in NetEase were worth $38,419,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of NTES. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of NetEase by 7.9% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 6,915 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $588,000 after acquiring an additional 507 shares during the last quarter. Retireful LLC purchased a new stake in NetEase during the fourth quarter valued at about $222,000. Brooklyn Investment Group bought a new position in shares of NetEase during the fourth quarter valued at about $34,000. UMB Bank n.a. increased its holdings in shares of NetEase by 33.3% in the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 444 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 111 shares during the period. Finally, Guinness Asset Management LTD lifted its stake in shares of NetEase by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Guinness Asset Management LTD now owns 87,521 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $7,808,000 after acquiring an additional 780 shares during the last quarter. 11.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

NetEase Trading Down 3.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ NTES opened at $103.34 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $101.70 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $95.98. NetEase, Inc. has a 12 month low of $75.85 and a 12 month high of $110.66. The firm has a market capitalization of $65.48 billion, a PE ratio of 16.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 0.66.

NetEase (NASDAQ:NTES) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The technology company reported $1.87 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.73 by $0.14. NetEase had a net margin of 28.17% and a return on equity of 22.12%. The business had revenue of $3.66 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $27.16 billion. On average, sell-side analysts predict that NetEase, Inc. will post 6.91 earnings per share for the current year.

NetEase Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently issued reports on NTES. Benchmark raised their price target on NetEase from $105.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of NetEase from $82.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 24th. Bank of America increased their price target on shares of NetEase from $120.00 to $122.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of NetEase from $108.00 to $117.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, NetEase presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $112.67.

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.