KE (NYSE:BEKE) Stock Price Up 6.8%

KE Holdings Inc. (NYSE:BEKE) shares rose 6.8% on Thursday . The company traded as high as $15.98 and last traded at $15.97. Approximately 2,070,210 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 74% from the average daily volume of 8,081,266 shares. The stock had previously closed at $14.95.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have commented on BEKE. Citigroup reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $21.10 price objective on shares of KE in a research report on Tuesday, March 19th. HSBC reduced their target price on shares of KE from $23.90 to $21.80 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 15th.

KE Trading Up 3.7 %

The company has a market cap of $21.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.46 and a beta of -0.77. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $13.91 and a 200-day moving average price of $14.56.

KE (NYSE:BEKE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 14th. The company reported $0.11 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.08 by $0.03. KE had a return on equity of 9.19% and a net margin of 7.62%. The company had revenue of $2.85 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.66 billion. Equities analysts expect that KE Holdings Inc. will post 0.77 earnings per share for the current year.

KE Dividend Announcement

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

Institutional Trading of KE

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of BEKE. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in KE by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 25,575,283 shares of the company’s stock worth $396,928,000 after purchasing an additional 151,596 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in shares of KE by 12.0% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 18,807,246 shares of the company’s stock valued at $304,865,000 after buying an additional 2,008,418 shares during the period. Capital World Investors raised its position in shares of KE by 24.9% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 13,861,852 shares of the company’s stock worth $224,701,000 after acquiring an additional 2,763,209 shares during the last quarter. Matthews International Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of KE by 12.0% in the third quarter. Matthews International Capital Management LLC now owns 7,969,313 shares of the company’s stock worth $123,684,000 after acquiring an additional 855,850 shares during the period. Finally, M&G Investment Management Ltd. boosted its holdings in KE by 15.5% in the fourth quarter. M&G Investment Management Ltd. now owns 7,926,434 shares of the company’s stock valued at $126,823,000 after acquiring an additional 1,065,949 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 39.34% of the company’s stock.

About KE

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.