Insider Selling: NetEase (NASDAQ:NTES) VP Sells $86,378.24 in Stock

NetEase, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTES) VP Bin Mo sold 716 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $120.64, for a total value of $86,378.24. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website.

NetEase Price Performance

Shares of NTES stock opened at $119.29 on Monday. NetEase, Inc. has a twelve month low of $106.06 and a twelve month high of $159.55. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $126.98 and its 200 day simple moving average is $120.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $76.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.43, a P/E/G ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 0.72.

NetEase Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 18th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, September 3rd will be paid a $0.48 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 3rd. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.6%. NetEase’s dividend payout ratio is currently 26.31%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Zacks Research downgraded shares of NetEase from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, July 27th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of NetEase from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 4th. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $160.00 price objective on shares of NetEase in a research note on Friday, August 21st. Nomura increased their price objective on NetEase from $155.00 to $157.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 25th. Finally, Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of NetEase in a research report on Friday, May 22nd. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, NetEase presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $160.57.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Lazard Asset Management LLC raised its position 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 in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE increased its holdings in NetEase by 111.4% in 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 purchasing an additional 698,318 shares in the last quarter. Temasek Holdings Private Ltd increased its holdings in NetEase by 50.7% in the first quarter. Temasek Holdings Private Ltd now owns 708,114 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $79,266,000 after purchasing an additional 238,386 shares in the last quarter. NewEdge Wealth LLC lifted its stake in NetEase by 114.3% in the first quarter. NewEdge Wealth LLC now owns 48,068 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $5,381,000 after buying an additional 25,634 shares during the period. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted its holdings in shares of NetEase by 40.8% during the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 99,814 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $11,173,000 after buying an additional 28,934 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 11.07% of the company’s stock.

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.