Legal & General Group Plc Sells 26,809 Shares of NetEase, Inc. $NTES

Legal & General Group Plc lowered its holdings in NetEase, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTES) by 21.5% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 98,055 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 26,809 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc’s holdings in NetEase were worth $13,494,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC bought a new position in NetEase during the third quarter worth about $33,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in NetEase by 3,381.8% during the second quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 383 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $51,000 after purchasing an additional 372 shares in the last quarter. Spire Wealth Management grew its stake in shares of NetEase by 31.3% in the 4th quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 436 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $60,000 after purchasing an additional 104 shares during the period. Strs Ohio bought a new stake in shares of NetEase in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $63,000. Finally, Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. raised its holdings in shares of NetEase by 479.7% in the 3rd quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 429 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $65,000 after buying an additional 355 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 11.07% of the company’s stock.

NetEase Stock Performance

Shares of NTES opened at $124.75 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $79.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.57, a PEG ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 0.72. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $115.12 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $125.35. NetEase, Inc. has a 52-week low of $106.06 and a 52-week high of $159.55.

NetEase Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 18th. Investors of record on Friday, June 5th will be issued a $0.72 dividend. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 5th. NetEase’s payout ratio is currently 38.11%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

NTES has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of NetEase in a research note on Friday, May 22nd. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $158.00 price objective on shares of NetEase in a research note on Tuesday, May 26th. Citigroup restated a “buy” rating on shares of NetEase in a research note on Wednesday, February 11th. Nomura dropped their target price on shares of NetEase from $160.00 to $155.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of NetEase from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 23rd. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, NetEase has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $157.38.

NetEase Company Profile

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.