StockNews.com Upgrades Artisan Partners Asset Management (NYSE:APAM) to Buy

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management (NYSE:APAM) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report released on Tuesday.

APAM has been the subject of several other research reports. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $50.00 price target on shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management in a report on Monday, July 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered 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 report on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, TD Cowen increased their price target on Artisan Partners Asset Management from $41.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Artisan Partners Asset Management has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $44.13.

Artisan Partners Asset Management Stock Performance

Shares of APAM opened at $48.17 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.42 and a beta of 1.79. 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 business has a fifty day moving average of $43.08 and a 200 day moving average of $42.39. Artisan Partners Asset Management has a one year low of $34.94 and a one year high of $49.30.

Artisan Partners Asset Management (NYSE:APAM) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The asset manager reported $0.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 analyst estimates of $279.70 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.75 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 12.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Artisan Partners Asset Management will post 3.49 EPS for the current year.

Artisan Partners Asset Management Cuts Dividend

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

Institutional Trading of Artisan Partners Asset Management

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Matrix Trust Co purchased a new stake in shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $30,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in Artisan Partners Asset Management by 81.5% during the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 775 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 348 shares in the last quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management by 41.8% in the 3rd quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,004 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $43,000 after acquiring an additional 296 shares in the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. raised its position in shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management by 735.9% in the 3rd quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 1,212 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $52,000 after acquiring an additional 1,067 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quarry LP purchased a new stake in shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management during the 2nd quarter worth $63,000. 86.45% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.