Noah (NYSE:NOAH) Cut to Hold at Wall Street Zen

Key Points

• Wall Street Zen has downgraded Noah Holdings (NYSE:NOAH) from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating, impacting investor sentiment.
• Noah's stock experienced a 1.4% decline, with a current trading price of $11.64 and a market capitalization of approximately $770.10 million.
• Recent institutional trading activity shows significant increases in holdings, with 42.67% of the stock now owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Zen cut shares of Noah (NYSE:NOAH - Free Report) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note released on Saturday morning.

Noah Stock Down 4.7%

NOAH stock traded down $0.54 during trading on Friday, reaching $11.13. The stock had a trading volume of 116,953 shares, compared to its average volume of 150,985. Noah has a one year low of $7.67 and a one year high of $14.90. The company's 50 day moving average is $12.05 and its two-hundred day moving average is $10.94. The company has a market capitalization of $736.32 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.93 and a beta of 0.90.

Noah (NYSE:NOAH - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 27th. The asset manager reported $0.37 EPS for the quarter. Noah had a net margin of 22.17% and a return on equity of 6.44%. The company had revenue of $87.87 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $86.31 million. As a group, research analysts predict that Noah will post 0.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Noah Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared an annual dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, July 3rd were issued a $1.1572 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 3rd. This represents a yield of 830.0%. Noah's payout ratio is currently 50.00%.

Institutional Trading of Noah

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in NOAH. Bank of America Corp DE raised its holdings in Noah by 1,066.6% in the fourth quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 83,902 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $982,000 after purchasing an additional 76,710 shares in the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Noah in the first quarter valued at approximately $354,000. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Noah in the fourth quarter valued at about $454,000. Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its position in shares of Noah by 1,440.2% during the first quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 32,376 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $328,000 after purchasing an additional 30,274 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Noah by 61.9% during the first quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 696,967 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $6,563,000 after acquiring an additional 266,602 shares during the last quarter. 42.67% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Noah

Noah Holdings Limited, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a wealth and asset management service provider with the focus on investment and asset allocation services for high net worth individuals and enterprises in Mainland of China, Hong Kong, and internationally. It operates through three segments: Wealth Management, Asset Management, and Other Services.