Artisan Partners Asset Management (NYSE:APAM) Sets New 52-Week High – Should You Buy?

Artisan Partners Asset Management Inc. (NYSE:APAM)’s share price hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $48.83 and last traded at $48.40, with a volume of 2520 shares. The stock had previously closed at $45.53.

Analyst Ratings Changes

APAM has been the subject of a number of research reports. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management from $40.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Thursday. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $50.00 target price on shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management in a research report on Monday, July 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their target price on shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management from $40.00 to $39.50 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, TD Cowen increased their target price on shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management from $41.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $44.13.

Artisan Partners Asset Management Trading Down 1.7 %

The business’s 50-day moving average price is $43.08 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $42.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 0.73 and a quick ratio of 0.71. The firm has a market cap of $3.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.42 and a beta of 1.79.

Artisan Partners Asset Management (NYSE:APAM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The asset manager reported $0.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.90 by $0.02. Artisan Partners Asset Management had a net margin of 23.95% and a return on equity of 71.50%. The company had revenue of $279.60 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $279.70 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.75 earnings per share. Artisan Partners Asset Management’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Artisan Partners Asset Management Inc. will post 3.49 earnings per share for the current year.

Artisan Partners Asset Management Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be given a dividend of $0.82 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 15th. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.81%. Artisan Partners Asset Management’s payout ratio is currently 79.11%.

Institutional Trading of Artisan Partners Asset Management

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of APAM. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its position in shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management by 9.2% during the 1st quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 5,898 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $270,000 after purchasing an additional 498 shares in the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management by 35.8% in the first quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 50,553 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,314,000 after acquiring an additional 13,328 shares during the last quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp lifted its position in Artisan Partners Asset Management by 1.5% in the first quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp now owns 60,038 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,748,000 after purchasing an additional 890 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new position in shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management during the first quarter valued at $222,000. Finally, ClariVest Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management by 57.7% during the first quarter. ClariVest Asset Management LLC now owns 31,559 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,444,000 after acquiring an additional 11,544 shares during the period. 86.45% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Artisan Partners Asset Management

Artisan Partners Asset Management Inc is publicly owned investment manager. It provides its services to pension and profit sharing plans, trusts, endowments, foundations, charitable organizations, government entities, private funds and non-U.S. funds, as well as mutual funds, non-U.S. funds and collective trusts.