Insider Selling: KE (NYSE:BEKE) Director Sells $18,097,084.80 in Stock

KE Holdings Inc. Sponsored ADR (NYSE:BEKE) Director Yigang Shan sold 3,326,670 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $5.44, for a total transaction of $18,097,084.80. Following the sale, the director directly owned 53,868,189 shares in the company, valued at approximately $293,042,948.16. The trade was a 5.82% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

KE Trading Down 2.2%

Shares of KE stock opened at $16.32 on Friday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $17.00 and a 200-day simple moving average of $16.51. KE Holdings Inc. Sponsored ADR has a 12-month low of $13.81 and a 12-month high of $20.65. The company has a current ratio of 3.30, a quick ratio of 3.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. The stock has a market cap of $18.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.75, a PEG ratio of 0.63 and a beta of -0.26.

KE (NYSE:BEKE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, August 21st. The company reported $0.42 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.31 by $0.11. KE had a net margin of 5.38% and a return on equity of 7.62%. The firm had revenue of $3.61 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.59 billion. On average, equities analysts forecast that KE Holdings Inc. Sponsored ADR will post 0.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Wall Street Zen raised KE from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, August 29th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of KE in a research report on Monday. CLSA began coverage on shares of KE in a research note on Wednesday, August 19th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $23.80 price target for the company. Zacks Research raised shares of KE from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 26th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of KE in a research report on Friday, August 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, KE presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $23.64.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Quantinno Capital Management LP lifted its position in shares of KE by 86.7% during the 1st quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 127,216 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,904,000 after acquiring an additional 59,079 shares during the period. Perseverance Asset Management International grew its holdings in shares of KE by 20.4% in the 1st quarter. Perseverance Asset Management International now owns 1,391,439 shares of the company’s stock worth $20,830,000 after acquiring an additional 236,000 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in KE by 16.0% in the 2nd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 8,915,061 shares of the company’s stock valued at $129,536,000 after purchasing an additional 1,231,445 shares in the last quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in KE by 5.8% in the 2nd quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 5,942,507 shares of the company’s stock valued at $86,345,000 after purchasing an additional 324,707 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Weiss Asset Management LP acquired a new position in KE during the first quarter worth $2,592,000. 39.34% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

KE Company Profile

KE Holdings Inc, operating under the brand name Beike, is a China-based platform that provides residential real estate transaction and related services. The company connects home buyers, sellers, landlords and tenants with real estate agents and brokerage stores through its online and offline network.

Its services include existing-home sales, new-home sales, residential rentals and property-related services. Beike also provides technology and data tools for real estate professionals, including digital listings, transaction support and virtual-reality viewing capabilities.