Pictet Asset Management Holding SA Sells 279,586 Shares of CMS Energy Co. (NYSE:CMS)

Pictet Asset Management Holding SA cut its holdings in CMS Energy Co. (NYSE:CMS - Free Report) by 10.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,483,489 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 279,586 shares during the quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA owned about 0.83% of CMS Energy worth $165,525,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. BankPlus Trust Department acquired a new stake in shares of CMS Energy in the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. boosted its stake in CMS Energy by 106.8% during the 4th quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 455 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 235 shares during the period. Brooklyn Investment Group bought a new stake in shares of CMS Energy in the third quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in CMS Energy by 2,900.0% in the 4th quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 720 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $48,000 after purchasing an additional 696 shares during the period. Finally, Robbins Farley acquired a new stake in CMS Energy in the 4th quarter worth $62,000. 93.57% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

CMS Energy Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of CMS stock traded down $0.27 on Wednesday, reaching $74.88. 467,816 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,313,293. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.57. CMS Energy Co. has a one year low of $56.61 and a one year high of $75.52. The stock has a market cap of $22.37 billion, a PE ratio of 22.55, a P/E/G ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.35. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $70.75 and a 200 day moving average price of $69.34.

CMS Energy (NYSE:CMS - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.87 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.86 by $0.01. CMS Energy had a net margin of 13.35% and a return on equity of 12.02%. Equities research analysts forecast that CMS Energy Co. will post 3.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CMS Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Monday, February 17th were paid a dividend of $0.5425 per share. This represents a $2.17 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.90%. This is a boost from CMS Energy's previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. CMS Energy's dividend payout ratio is presently 65.36%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other CMS Energy news, SVP Brandon J. Hofmeister sold 2,000 shares of CMS Energy stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.77, for a total value of $147,540.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 71,931 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,306,349.87. This trade represents a 2.71 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Laura Wright sold 2,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.84, for a total value of $174,600.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 38,790 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,709,093.60. This represents a 6.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 11,200 shares of company stock valued at $789,532. 0.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the company. UBS Group boosted their price objective on CMS Energy from $77.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of CMS Energy from $73.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, March 24th. Scotiabank boosted their target price on CMS Energy from $75.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on CMS Energy from $73.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, March 24th. Finally, Barclays upgraded CMS Energy from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $68.00 to $75.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $75.36.

About CMS Energy

CMS Energy Corporation operates as an energy company primarily in Michigan. The company operates through three segments: Electric Utility; Gas Utility; and Enterprises. The Electric Utility segment is involved in the generation, purchase, transmission, distribution, and sale of electricity. This segment generates electricity through coal, wind, gas, renewable energy, oil, and nuclear sources.