Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc. Takes Position in NetEase, Inc. $NTES

Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc. acquired a new position in shares of NetEase, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTES) in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 4,855 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $738,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Ninety One UK Ltd grew its holdings in NetEase by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd now owns 6,296,150 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $956,952,000 after buying an additional 28,381 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its position in shares of NetEase by 2.1% in the second quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 1,977,146 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $266,084,000 after acquiring an additional 40,871 shares in the last quarter. Man Group plc boosted its stake in shares of NetEase by 33.3% during the second quarter. Man Group plc now owns 983,156 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $132,313,000 after acquiring an additional 245,872 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. increased its position in NetEase by 19.7% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 748,450 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $100,726,000 after purchasing an additional 122,951 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Handelsbanken Fonder AB raised its stake in NetEase by 2.0% in the 2nd quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 512,115 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $68,920,000 after purchasing an additional 10,000 shares during the last quarter. 11.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on NTES shares. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of NetEase in a research note on Monday, December 22nd. Nomura reduced their price objective on shares of NetEase from $160.00 to $155.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $155.00 target price on shares of NetEase in a research note on Friday, November 21st. Benchmark reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of NetEase in a report on Thursday. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut NetEase from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, November 23rd. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $155.67.

NetEase Stock Performance

Shares of NTES stock opened at $120.61 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $76.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 0.71. NetEase, Inc. has a one year low of $88.54 and a one year high of $159.55. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $134.60 and a 200 day moving average price of $139.05.

NetEase Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 27th. Investors of record on Monday, March 16th will be given a $1.16 dividend. This is an increase from NetEase’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 16th. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.8%. NetEase’s dividend payout ratio is 63.22%.

Key NetEase News

Here are the key news stories impacting NetEase this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Big dividend hike: NetEase declared a quarterly dividend of $1.16 (record date Mar 16, pay Mar 27), a 103.5% increase from the prior payout and ~3.9% yield — an income boost that can attract yield-seeking investors and support the share price. Zacks: Q4 Earnings & Dividend
• Positive Sentiment: Broker and analyst commentary noting the Q4 weakness may be one-off and highlighting upside potential — these narratives can limit downside and attract buying from longer‑term/contrarian investors. Seeking Alpha: Q4 Underperformance Is A One-Off Seeking Alpha: Upside Brewing
• Neutral Sentiment: Underlying revenue growth and strategic pushes (game slate, AI initiatives, rising cash) cited in earnings commentary — these are constructive for medium-term fundamentals but haven’t yet offset margin/earnings headwinds. Yahoo Finance: Q4 Highlights
• Neutral Sentiment: Nomura trimmed its price target to $155 (from $160) but kept a Buy rating — a modestly negative tweak in PT but still signals conviction in upside, so the net effect is neutral-to-slightly supportive. MarketScreener: Nomura PT
• Negative Sentiment: Q4 profit miss and weaker margins: NetEase reported a significant drop in Q4 profit (reported as ~24–30% decline across coverage) and missed some estimates, which triggered selling pressure after the print. Yicai Global: Stock Falls After Profit Decline
• Negative Sentiment: Barclays cut its price target to $132 and moved to an Equal Weight rating — another analyst downgrade that can weigh on sentiment and limit near-term upside. The Fly / Benzinga: Barclays PT Cut

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.