NetEase (NASDAQ:NTES) Shares Gap Down - Here's Why

NetEase, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTES - Get Free Report)'s stock price gapped down before the market opened on Friday . The stock had previously closed at $81.16, but opened at $76.68. NetEase shares last traded at $76.95, with a volume of 208,947 shares.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

NTES has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Barclays cut their price objective on NetEase from $104.00 to $82.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 26th. Bank of America cut their price objective on NetEase from $142.00 to $120.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price objective on NetEase from $126.00 to $103.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 22nd. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded NetEase from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, July 20th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, NetEase presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $112.67.

NetEase Trading Down 5.4 %

The business has a 50 day moving average of $83.59 and a two-hundred day moving average of $89.51. The firm has a market cap of $49.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.52, a PEG ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 0.57.

NetEase (NASDAQ:NTES - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 22nd. The technology company reported $12.05 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.62 by $10.43. NetEase had a return on equity of 22.30% and a net margin of 26.98%. The business had revenue of $25.49 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $26.01 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.75 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that NetEase, Inc. will post 6.02 EPS for the current year.

NetEase Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 6th were given a dividend of $0.435 per share. This represents a $1.74 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.27%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 6th. NetEase's payout ratio is 28.22%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of NetEase by 4.3% during the 2nd quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 2,575 shares of the technology company's stock worth $246,000 after purchasing an additional 107 shares in the last quarter. Guinness Atkinson Asset Management Inc boosted its stake in NetEase by 0.7% in the second quarter. Guinness Atkinson Asset Management Inc now owns 15,422 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $1,474,000 after buying an additional 110 shares in the last quarter. SYSTM Wealth Solutions LLC boosted its stake in NetEase by 55.5% in the second quarter. SYSTM Wealth Solutions LLC now owns 328 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 117 shares in the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp boosted its stake in NetEase by 1.9% in the second quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 7,658 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $732,000 after buying an additional 146 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Financial Advocates Investment Management boosted its stake in NetEase by 5.4% in the third quarter. Financial Advocates Investment Management now owns 4,647 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $435,000 after buying an additional 237 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 11.07% of the company's stock.

About NetEase

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.