KE (NYSE:BEKE) Shares Gap Up – What’s Next?

KE Holdings Inc. (NYSE:BEKE) shares gapped up prior to trading on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $19.36, but opened at $20.01. KE shares last traded at $19.59, with a volume of 1,853,642 shares traded.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on BEKE. UBS Group lowered KE from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $22.70 to $24.50 in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of KE from $19.00 to $27.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of KE in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $27.26.

KE Stock Up 0.7 %

The firm has a 50 day moving average of $20.92 and a two-hundred day moving average of $20.03. The firm has a market capitalization of $23.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.45 and a beta of -0.73.

KE Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a — dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 25th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 9th will be paid a dividend of $0.36 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 9th. This is a positive change from KE’s previous — dividend of $0.17. This represents a yield of 1.4%. KE’s dividend payout ratio is currently 64.58%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On KE

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of KE by 1.2% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,765,337 shares of the company’s stock valued at $74,323,000 after buying an additional 44,797 shares during the period. Virtu Financial LLC bought a new stake in KE in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $1,033,000. Tidal Investments LLC grew its holdings in shares of KE by 34.0% during the 3rd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 23,735 shares of the company’s stock valued at $473,000 after purchasing an additional 6,017 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings in KE by 191.4% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 590,139 shares of the company’s stock valued at $11,750,000 after acquiring an additional 387,598 shares during the period. Finally, Lord Abbett & CO. LLC purchased a new stake in KE during the 3rd quarter valued at $28,956,000. Institutional investors own 39.34% of the company’s stock.

About KE

KE Holdings Inc, through its subsidiaries, engages in operating an integrated online and offline platform for housing transactions and services in the People's Republic of China. It operates through four segments: Existing Home Transaction Services, New Home Transaction Services, Home Renovation and Furnishing, and Emerging and Other Services.