Artisan Partners Asset Management (NYSE:APAM) Stock Dropped to Strong Sell by Zacks Research

Zacks Research downgraded shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management (NYSE:APAM) from a hold rating to a strong sell rating in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday morning,Zacks reports.

A number of other equities analysts also recently issued reports on APAM. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on Artisan Partners Asset Management from $35.00 to $31.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 2nd. Evercore set a $34.00 price objective on shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management in a report on Friday, October 9th. Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their price objective on shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management from $45.00 to $43.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 9th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management in a research report on Tuesday, September 29th. Finally, TD Cowen lowered their target price on shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management from $37.00 to $33.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Monday. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Artisan Partners Asset Management has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $35.25.

Artisan Partners Asset Management Stock Up 1.3%

Artisan Partners Asset Management stock opened at $31.65 on Tuesday. Artisan Partners Asset Management has a 1-year low of $30.86 and a 1-year high of $46.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 0.90 and a quick ratio of 0.90. The stock has a market cap of $2.57 billion, a PE ratio of 7.68 and a beta of 1.70. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $38.86 and its two-hundred day moving average is $37.79.

Artisan Partners Asset Management (NYSE:APAM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 28th. The asset manager reported $0.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.91 by $0.03. Artisan Partners Asset Management had a return on equity of 73.11% and a net margin of 24.08%. The business had revenue of $307.91 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $301.32 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.83 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Artisan Partners Asset Management will post 3.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Artisan Partners Asset Management Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 17th were paid a $0.80 dividend. This is an increase from Artisan Partners Asset Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 10.1%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 17th. Artisan Partners Asset Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 77.67%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Artisan Partners Asset Management

In other news, EVP Gregory Ramirez sold 7,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.59, for a total value of $298,130.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 109,194 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,650,572.46. This represents a 6.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 11.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Artisan Partners Asset Management

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. WealthCollab LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management by 21.9% during the first quarter. WealthCollab LLC now owns 2,072 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $75,000 after purchasing an additional 372 shares during the period. Aviance Capital Partners LLC grew its position in Artisan Partners Asset Management by 1.2% in the 1st quarter. Aviance Capital Partners LLC now owns 33,564 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,221,000 after buying an additional 405 shares during the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its position in Artisan Partners Asset Management by 20.9% in the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 3,148 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $114,000 after buying an additional 545 shares during the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its stake in Artisan Partners Asset Management by 51.0% in the 2nd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,658 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $57,000 after buying an additional 560 shares during the period. Finally, MeadowBrook Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in Artisan Partners Asset Management by 7.0% in the 1st quarter. MeadowBrook Investment Advisors LLC now owns 9,206 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $335,000 after buying an additional 600 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.45% of the company’s stock.

About Artisan Partners Asset Management

Artisan Partners Asset Management, Inc (NYSE: APAM) is a global investment management firm that provides active investment strategies to institutional investors, financial intermediaries and private clients. The company operates through affiliated investment teams with distinct approaches, investment philosophies and areas of expertise.

Artisan Partners offers a range of equity, fixed-income and alternative investment strategies. Its products and services include separately managed accounts, mutual funds, collective investment trusts and other investment vehicles designed for institutions, wealth managers and individual investors.