KE (NYSE:BEKE) Stock Sees Unusually High Call Option Buying

KE Holdings Inc. Sponsored ADR (NYSE:BEKE) was the target of unusually large options trading activity on Wednesday. Stock traders bought 3,841 call options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 61% compared to the typical volume of 2,389 call options.

KE Price Performance

Shares of KE stock traded down $0.09 on Friday, hitting $16.55. 711,718 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,585,069. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.55 and a beta of -0.26. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $17.02 and a 200 day moving average price of $16.51. KE has a 1-year low of $13.81 and a 1-year high of $19.88. The company has a quick ratio of 3.30, a current ratio of 3.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01.

KE (NYSE:BEKE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, August 21st. The company reported $0.42 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.31 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $3.61 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.59 billion. KE had a return on equity of 7.62% and a net margin of 5.38%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that KE will post 1.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other KE news, Director Yigang Shan sold 3,326,670 shares of the business’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 completion of 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Yongdong Peng sold 16,033,983 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5.27, for a total value of $84,499,090.41. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 62,824,251 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $331,083,802.77. This trade represents a 20.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 6.80% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of KE in the 4th quarter worth $112,843,000. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in shares of KE by 16.0% during the second quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 8,915,061 shares of the company’s stock worth $129,536,000 after acquiring an additional 1,231,445 shares during the period. Temasek Holdings Private Ltd raised its holdings in KE by 40.7% during the fourth quarter. Temasek Holdings Private Ltd now owns 3,047,357 shares of the company’s stock worth $48,026,000 after purchasing an additional 881,506 shares in the last quarter. Carrhae Capital LLP purchased a new position in KE during the second quarter worth about $10,138,000. Finally, Perseverance Asset Management International lifted its position in KE by 75.1% in the fourth quarter. Perseverance Asset Management International now owns 1,155,439 shares of the company’s stock valued at $18,210,000 after purchasing an additional 495,590 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 39.34% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BEKE has been the subject of several research reports. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of KE in a research report on Monday, September 21st. CLSA started coverage on KE in a report on Wednesday, August 19th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $23.80 price objective on the stock. Wall Street Zen raised shares of KE from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 29th. Zacks Research raised shares of KE from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 26th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of KE in a report on Friday, August 21st. One 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. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $23.64.

KE Company Profile

KE Holdings Inc (NYSE: BEKE) is a technology-driven platform serving China’s housing and property-services markets. The company operates the Beike platform, which connects consumers with housing agents, brokers, landlords, developers and other service providers.

Its business includes existing-home and new-home transactions, property rentals, and related services. KE Holdings also provides home renovation and furnishing services, as well as technology and data tools designed to support real estate agents, brokerage stores and property developers.

The company traces its roots to Lianjia, a Chinese real estate brokerage founded in 2001, and launched the Beike platform in 2018.