Franklin Resources Inc. Grows Position in NetEase, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTES)

Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in NetEase, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTES - Free Report) by 48.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 10,288 shares of the technology company's stock after acquiring an additional 3,373 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc.'s holdings in NetEase were worth $918,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of NTES. Greenwoods Asset Management Hong Kong Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of NetEase by 10.8% during the fourth quarter. Greenwoods Asset Management Hong Kong Ltd. now owns 3,632,870 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $324,088,000 after purchasing an additional 354,273 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its position in NetEase by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 2,016,465 shares of the technology company's stock worth $179,889,000 after buying an additional 54,899 shares during the last quarter. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of NetEase during the 4th quarter valued at about $62,593,000. Davis Selected Advisers purchased a new stake in shares of NetEase during the 4th quarter valued at about $53,287,000. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. grew its stake in shares of NetEase by 6.4% in the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 568,454 shares of the technology company's stock worth $50,712,000 after acquiring an additional 34,255 shares during the period. 11.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

NTES has been the topic of several research reports. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of NetEase from $108.00 to $117.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Benchmark lifted their price objective on NetEase from $105.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Bank of America increased their target price on NetEase from $120.00 to $122.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on shares of NetEase from $82.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, February 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $114.57.

NetEase Price Performance

Shares of NTES stock traded up $1.32 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $98.73. 1,353,037 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,607,987. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $100.73 and a 200 day moving average price of $94.28. The company has a market cap of $63.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.50, a P/E/G ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 0.65. NetEase, Inc. has a 12-month low of $75.85 and a 12-month high of $110.15.

NetEase (NASDAQ:NTES - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The technology company reported $1.87 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.73 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $3.66 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $27.16 billion. NetEase had a net margin of 28.17% and a return on equity of 22.12%. Sell-side analysts predict that NetEase, Inc. will post 6.91 EPS for the current year.

NetEase Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 20th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 6th were paid a dividend of $0.435 per share. This represents a $1.74 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.76%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 6th. NetEase's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 76.45%.

NetEase Company Profile

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.