Stephen Mandel’s Lone Pine Capital Boosted Its Stake in Netease

Stephen Mandel’s Lone Pine Capital increased its passive stake in Netease.com, Inc. (NTES) to 5.5%, according to a SEC 13G filing. Lone Pine Capital now has direct ownership of 7.09 million American depositary shares (corresponding to about 177 million ordinary shares) in NTES. This is a 45% expansion in Lone Pine Capital’s position. The firm increased its position by 139% and revealed 4.91 million shares in the second quarter. NTES has gained 31% in 2011, and the stock is now trading at $47.45. It’s possible that Stephen Mandel began his purchase at about $40 in early October, after the stock dropped to its 52-week low. 

Based on Insider Monkey’s hedge fund database, in the second quarter fifteen hedge funds had NTES in their portfolios. Beside Lone Pine Capital’s largest portion, Jim Simons’ Renaissance Technologies increased its position by 33% to 2.06 million shares. Panayotis and Sparaggis’ Alkeon Capital Management had 1.59 million shares, up by 3% from Q1.

Lone Pine Capital LLC is owned by Stephen Mandel, who has $17 Billion assets under management. He’s a “bottom-up” investor with great stock picking skills. He returned about 23% during the past 11 years, beating the S&P 500 index by more than 20 percentage points per year. According to its 13F in the second quarter, the firm mainly invests in Technology, Services, and some other sectors.

Netease. com, Inc. is an internet technology company. The company provides online game services through the in-house development and licensing of massively multi-player online role-playing games (MMORPGs), including Fantasy Westward Journey, Westward Journey Online II, Westward Journey Online III, Tianxia II, and Datang, as well as other technologies for the Internet in China. The company also offers online advertising,  paid listings, classified advertising services, and online mall. NetEase.com, Inc. was founded in 1997 and is based in Beijing, China.