Aurora Investment Counsel Acquires 2,387 Shares of NetEase, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTES)

Aurora Investment Counsel lifted its stake in NetEase, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTES) by 9.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 28,692 shares of the technology company’s stock after buying an additional 2,387 shares during the period. NetEase comprises approximately 1.4% of Aurora Investment Counsel’s holdings, 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.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its position in NetEase by 33.3% in the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 444 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 111 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of NetEase by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 7,190 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $641,000 after acquiring an additional 114 shares during the last quarter. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its holdings in shares of NetEase by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 10,297 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $919,000 after acquiring an additional 117 shares in the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its position in NetEase by 81.7% during the 4th quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 338 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 152 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp increased its holdings in NetEase by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 56,729 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $5,305,000 after purchasing an additional 156 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 11.07% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on NTES. Citigroup raised their target price on NetEase from $108.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. StockNews.com lowered NetEase from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on NetEase from $108.00 to $117.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Bank of America lifted their price target 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. Finally, Benchmark increased their price objective on shares of NetEase from $105.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, NetEase currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $114.57.

NetEase Stock Down 1.3 %

NTES opened at $103.54 on Friday. NetEase, Inc. has a 12 month low of $75.85 and a 12 month high of $110.15. The stock 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 company has a fifty day simple moving average of $100.61 and a 200 day simple moving average of $90.99.

NetEase (NASDAQ:NTES) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The technology company reported $1.87 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.73 by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $3.66 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $27.16 billion. NetEase had a net margin of 28.17% and a return on equity of 22.12%. On average, equities research analysts expect that NetEase, Inc. will post 6.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

NetEase Dividend Announcement

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