West Family Investments Inc. Sells 248 Shares of NetEase, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTES)

West Family Investments Inc. lessened its position in NetEase, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTES) by 7.7% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 2,969 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 248 shares during the period. West Family Investments Inc.’s holdings in NetEase were worth $277,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its holdings in shares of NetEase by 451.3% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 511,454 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $47,647,000 after buying an additional 418,677 shares during the period. WT Asset Management Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of NetEase by 381.1% during the 4th quarter. WT Asset Management Ltd now owns 996,686 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $92,851,000 after buying an additional 789,499 shares during the period. FDx Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of NetEase by 11.6% during the 3rd quarter. FDx Advisors Inc. now owns 8,352 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $837,000 after buying an additional 871 shares during the period. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd acquired a new stake in NetEase in the 3rd quarter worth about $12,017,000. Finally, China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in NetEase in the 3rd quarter worth about $1,102,000. Institutional investors own 11.07% of the company’s stock.

NetEase Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:NTES traded up $4.58 during trading on Thursday, reaching $98.60. The stock had a trading volume of 823,838 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,684,372. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $101.51 and its 200 day moving average is $102.69. NetEase, Inc. has a 52 week low of $80.79 and a 52 week high of $118.89. The stock has a market cap of $63.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.85, a P/E/G ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 0.58.

NetEase (NASDAQ:NTES) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 29th. The technology company reported $1.42 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.62 by ($0.20). NetEase had a net margin of 28.39% and a return on equity of 24.36%. The firm had revenue of $3.82 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.96 billion. On average, research analysts forecast that NetEase, Inc. will post 7.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

NetEase Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 14th were given a dividend of $1.08 per share. This represents a $4.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.38%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 13th. This is an increase from NetEase’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. NetEase’s payout ratio is presently 68.09%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have weighed in on NTES shares. StockNews.com cut shares of NetEase from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday. HSBC dropped their price objective on shares of NetEase from $130.00 to $126.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of NetEase from $135.00 to $120.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 12th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $126.00.

About NetEase

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.