Ninety One UK Ltd Sells 456,877 Shares of NetEase, Inc. $NTES

Ninety One UK Ltd trimmed its position in shares of NetEase, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTES) by 7.3% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 5,789,707 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 456,877 shares during the quarter. NetEase accounts for about 1.6% of Ninety One UK Ltd’s holdings, making the stock its 14th largest holding. Ninety One UK Ltd’s holdings in NetEase were worth $701,481,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of NTES. Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its position in NetEase by 25.2% during the first quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 1,363,188 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $152,595,000 after acquiring an additional 274,500 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE raised its stake in shares of NetEase by 111.4% during the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 1,325,317 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $148,356,000 after acquiring an additional 698,318 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of NetEase by 16.9% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,079,110 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $120,697,000 after acquiring an additional 155,784 shares during the last quarter. Temasek Holdings Private Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of NetEase by 50.7% in the 1st quarter. Temasek Holdings Private Ltd now owns 708,114 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $79,266,000 after acquiring an additional 238,386 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of NetEase by 64.2% in the 1st quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 581,720 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $65,118,000 after acquiring an additional 227,433 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 11.07% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at NetEase

In related news, VP Aileen Mo sold 716 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $120.64, for a total transaction of $86,378.24. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 54.70% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $169.00 price objective on shares of NetEase in a research note on Wednesday, July 1st. Zacks Research cut shares of NetEase from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, July 27th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of NetEase from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, August 2nd. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of NetEase from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 4th. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane began coverage on shares of NetEase in a research report on Tuesday, September 22nd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $180.00 price target for the company. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $159.86.

NetEase Trading Up 2.7%

NTES stock traded up $3.37 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $127.10. The company had a trading volume of 259,311 shares, compared to its average volume of 842,118. NetEase, Inc. has a 52 week low of $106.06 and a 52 week high of $153.54. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $121.54 and its 200 day moving average price is $121.10. The stock has a market cap of $81.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.50, a PEG ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 0.68.

NetEase Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 18th. Investors of record on Thursday, September 3rd were paid a $0.48 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, September 3rd. This is a negative change from NetEase’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.5%. NetEase’s payout ratio is presently 26.31%.

NetEase Profile

NetEase, Inc (NASDAQ: NTES) is a China-based internet technology company founded in 1997 by William Ding, who serves as the company’s chief executive officer and director. The company develops and operates online services for consumers in China and international markets.

NetEase’s primary business is online games, including role-playing, multiplayer, mobile and personal-computer titles. Its portfolio includes franchises such as Fantasy Westward Journey, Westward Journey Online, Knives Out, Identity V and Onmyoji.