Aurora Investment Counsel Acquires 627 Shares of NetEase, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTES)

Aurora Investment Counsel grew its holdings in shares of NetEase, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTES) by 2.5% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 25,393 shares of the technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 627 shares during the period. NetEase comprises 1.4% of Aurora Investment Counsel’s holdings, making the stock its 12th largest holding. Aurora Investment Counsel’s holdings in NetEase were worth $2,427,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its position in NetEase by 17.2% during the 1st quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 318,550 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $33,059,000 after purchasing an additional 46,635 shares during the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board raised its position in shares of NetEase by 12.4% during the first quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 327,400 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $33,876,000 after acquiring an additional 36,000 shares during the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of NetEase by 804.5% in the first quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 792,357 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $81,983,000 after acquiring an additional 704,753 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in NetEase by 6.3% in the first quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 278,802 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $28,848,000 after acquiring an additional 16,607 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp increased its position in NetEase by 4.7% during the 1st quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp now owns 134,344 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $13,261,000 after purchasing an additional 6,065 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 11.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. 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 decreased their target price on NetEase from $126.00 to $103.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 22nd. Morgan Stanley reissued an “equal weight” rating and issued a $100.00 price target on shares of NetEase in a research note on Friday, July 5th. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of NetEase from $104.00 to $82.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 26th. Finally, Bank of America lowered their price objective on shares of NetEase from $142.00 to $120.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, NetEase currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $112.67.

NetEase Stock Performance

Shares of NetEase stock opened at $93.51 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $60.05 billion, a PE ratio of 14.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 0.54. NetEase, Inc. has a 52 week low of $75.85 and a 52 week high of $118.89. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $85.40 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $92.21.

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

NetEase Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 6th were given a dividend of $0.435 per share. This represents a $1.74 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.86%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 6th. NetEase’s payout ratio is presently 26.82%.

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.