NetEase, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTES) Sees Large Drop in Short Interest

NetEase, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTES) saw a significant decrease in short interest during the month of March. As of March 13th, there was short interest totaling 2,094,880 shares, a decrease of 15.7% from the February 26th total of 2,483,751 shares. Approximately 0.7% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 1,149,198 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.8 days.

Institutional Trading of NetEase

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. lifted its position in shares of NetEase by 9.7% during the 4th quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 2,175 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $299,000 after buying an additional 192 shares during the last quarter. Larry Mathis Financial Planning LLC purchased a new stake in NetEase in the 4th quarter worth about $340,000. MY.Alpha Management HK Advisors Ltd bought a new stake in NetEase in the 4th quarter valued at about $12,093,000. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group raised its stake in NetEase by 24.5% in the 4th quarter. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group now owns 2,538 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $352,000 after acquiring an additional 499 shares during the period. Finally, MidFirst Bank purchased a new stake in NetEase during the fourth quarter valued at about $57,000. 11.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently weighed in on NTES shares. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and set a $154.00 price target on shares of NetEase in a report on Monday, March 2nd. Nomura dropped their target price on shares of NetEase from $160.00 to $155.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Benchmark restated a “buy” rating on shares of NetEase in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. Citigroup reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of NetEase in a report on Wednesday, February 11th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of NetEase in a research report on Monday, December 22nd. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, NetEase has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $153.89.

NetEase Price Performance

NetEase stock opened at $109.26 on Monday. NetEase has a twelve month low of $88.54 and a twelve month high of $159.55. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $120.84 and a 200-day moving average price of $135.48. The company has a market capitalization of $69.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.89, a P/E/G ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 0.74.

NetEase Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 27th. Investors of record on Monday, March 16th were paid a $1.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 16th. This is a positive change from NetEase’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.2%. NetEase’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 63.08%.

About NetEase

NetEase, Inc (NASDAQ: NTES) is a Chinese technology company headquartered in Hangzhou that develops and operates Internet services and products. Founded in 1997 by William Ding (Ding Lei), the company has grown from an early web portal and e-mail provider into a diversified online services group. William Ding has served as the company’s founder and long-time leader, guiding its expansion into games, digital content and consumer services.

The company’s primary business is interactive entertainment: NetEase Games designs, develops and publishes PC and mobile games for domestic and international audiences, offering a mix of self-developed franchises and titles published under licensing and strategic partnerships.