Northern Trust Corp Increases Position in KE Holdings Inc. (NYSE:BEKE)

Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in shares of KE Holdings Inc. (NYSE:BEKE - Free Report) by 180.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 3,699,677 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 2,378,858 shares during the quarter. Northern Trust Corp owned about 0.31% of KE worth $68,148,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. QRG Capital Management Inc. raised its position in shares of KE by 5.1% during the fourth quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 14,395 shares of the company's stock worth $265,000 after purchasing an additional 703 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its position in KE by 8.8% during the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 9,379 shares of the company's stock worth $173,000 after acquiring an additional 762 shares in the last quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. raised its holdings in shares of KE by 42.3% in the 4th quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 4,762 shares of the company's stock valued at $88,000 after purchasing an additional 1,416 shares during the period. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of KE in the fourth quarter valued at $30,000. Finally, Principal Securities Inc. grew its stake in KE by 411.9% in the 4th quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 2,068 shares of the company's stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 1,664 shares during the last quarter. 39.34% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on BEKE. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target 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. UBS Group lowered KE from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and upped their target price for the company from $22.70 to $24.50 in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of KE in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $27.26.

KE Stock Down 0.2 %

NYSE:BEKE traded down $0.04 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $19.28. The company's stock had a trading volume of 3,062,535 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,493,439. The firm has a market capitalization of $23.30 billion, a PE ratio of 39.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.45 and a beta of -0.73. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $20.79 and a 200-day moving average of $19.81. KE Holdings Inc. has a 1 year low of $12.92 and a 1 year high of $26.05.

KE Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a -- dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 25th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 9th were given a dividend of $0.36 per share. This is a boost from KE's previous -- dividend of $0.17. This represents a yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, April 9th. KE's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 64.58%.

KE Company Profile

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.