KE (NYSE:BEKE) Shares Gap Up – Time to Buy?

KE Holdings Inc. Sponsored ADR (NYSE:BEKE)’s share price gapped up prior to trading on Wednesday . The stock had previously closed at $16.10, but opened at $16.84. KE shares last traded at $17.3250, with a volume of 924,419 shares trading hands.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have commented on BEKE. UBS Group raised shares of KE from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $23.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, May 12th. Citigroup restated a “buy” rating on shares of KE in a report on Tuesday, May 19th. Wall Street Zen raised KE from a “sell” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 23rd. Barclays upped their target price on KE from $23.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 20th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of KE in a research report on Wednesday, June 24th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, KE presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $23.07.

KE Stock Up 7.8%

The firm has a market capitalization of $19.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.16 and a beta of -0.33. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $16.40 and its two-hundred day moving average is $16.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a current ratio of 3.12 and a quick ratio of 3.12.

Institutional Trading of KE

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in KE in the 4th quarter valued at about $112,843,000. Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of KE by 197.8% during the second quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,421,452 shares of the company’s stock worth $42,957,000 after purchasing an additional 1,608,207 shares during the period. Burkehill Global Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of KE in the third quarter valued at approximately $28,500,000. Amundi acquired a new stake in shares of KE in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $22,303,000. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE raised its position in shares of KE by 76.3% in the third quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 3,067,917 shares of the company’s stock valued at $58,290,000 after buying an additional 1,327,775 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 39.34% of the company’s stock.

About KE

KE Holdings Inc (NYSE: BEKE) is a technology-driven real estate services company that operates an integrated online and offline platform for housing transactions and related services in mainland China. The company provides consumer-facing property listing marketplaces alongside a broad network of offline brokerage offices and agents, aiming to facilitate sales, rentals and new-home transactions for individual and institutional clients.

The company’s offerings span property listings for new and resale homes, rental listings, brokerage representation and transaction facilitation.