Wall Street Zen Downgrades Noah (NYSE:NOAH) to Hold

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 report published on Saturday.

Noah Price Performance

NOAH stock traded down $0.03 during trading on Friday, reaching $11.10. 531 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 150,674. The business's 50 day moving average price is $12.04 and its 200-day moving average price is $10.94. Noah has a 52-week low of $7.67 and a 52-week high of $14.90. The firm has a market capitalization of $734.27 million, a PE ratio of 9.96 and a beta of 0.90.

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

Noah Cuts Dividend

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Noah

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 76,710 shares during the period. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC acquired a new position in shares of Noah in the first quarter worth about $354,000. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Noah in the fourth quarter worth about $454,000. Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Noah by 1,440.2% in the first quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 32,376 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $328,000 after acquiring an additional 30,274 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Noah by 61.9% in 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 in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 42.67% of the company's stock.

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.