Artisan Partners Asset Management (NYSE:APAM) Raised to Hold at Zacks Research

Artisan Partners Asset Management (NYSE:APAM) was upgraded by Zacks Research from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note issued to investors on Monday, Zacks reports.

Other analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price objective on Artisan Partners Asset Management from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management in a research note on Thursday, July 2nd. TD Cowen reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $37.00 price target on shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management in a research report on Friday, September 11th. Finally, Evercore set a $36.00 price target on shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management in a report on Friday, July 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $38.00.

Artisan Partners Asset Management Trading Down 2.2%

Artisan Partners Asset Management stock opened at $36.67 on Monday. Artisan Partners Asset Management has a 12-month low of $33.96 and a 12-month 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 capitalization of $2.97 billion, a PE ratio of 8.90 and a beta of 1.67. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $40.63 and a 200-day simple moving average of $38.12.

Artisan Partners Asset Management (NYSE:APAM) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 28th. The asset manager reported $0.94 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.91 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $307.91 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $301.32 million. Artisan Partners Asset Management had a return on equity of 73.11% and a net margin of 24.08%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.83 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Artisan Partners Asset Management will post 3.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Artisan Partners Asset Management

In other news, EVP Gregory Ramirez sold 7,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.59, for a total transaction 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 $4,650,572.46. This trade represents a 6.02% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 11.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Artisan Partners Asset Management

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. lifted its stake in Artisan Partners Asset Management by 12.6% in the first quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 2,587,946 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $94,175,000 after acquiring an additional 289,105 shares during the last quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP boosted its position in Artisan Partners Asset Management by 8.4% during the second quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 1,704,243 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $58,848,000 after purchasing an additional 132,708 shares during the period. Punch & Associates Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Artisan Partners Asset Management by 25.9% during the first quarter. Punch & Associates Investment Management Inc. now owns 551,336 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $20,063,000 after purchasing an additional 113,491 shares during the last quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. raised its position in shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management by 101.7% in the first quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 218,013 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $7,933,000 after purchasing an additional 109,926 shares during the period. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Artisan Partners Asset Management by 97.3% during the first quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 152,925 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $5,565,000 after acquiring an additional 75,426 shares during the period. 86.45% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Artisan Partners Asset Management

Artisan Partners Asset Management Inc is a global investment management company headquartered in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Through its subsidiaries and investment teams, the company provides actively managed investment strategies to institutional investors, financial intermediaries and private clients.

The firm offers a range of equity, fixed-income and alternative investment strategies, including U.S. and international equities, emerging-market investments, credit and other specialized portfolios.