Artisan Partners Asset Management (NYSE:APAM) Cut to Strong Sell at Zacks Research

Zacks Research lowered shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management (NYSE:APAM) from a hold rating to a strong sell rating in a research report released on Wednesday morning,Zacks.com reports.

Other analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management in a report on Thursday, July 2nd. Evercore set a $36.00 price target on shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management in a report on Friday, July 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price target on Artisan Partners Asset Management from $39.00 to $34.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 7th. TD Cowen reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded Artisan Partners Asset Management from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, April 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $39.25.

Artisan Partners Asset Management Trading Up 2.0%

APAM stock opened at $39.30 on Wednesday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $36.66 and a 200 day moving average price of $38.66. Artisan Partners Asset Management has a fifty-two week low of $33.96 and a fifty-two week high of $48.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 0.82. The firm has a market cap of $3.17 billion, a PE ratio of 9.95 and a beta of 1.68.

Artisan Partners Asset Management (NYSE:APAM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The asset manager reported $0.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.91 by ($0.04). Artisan Partners Asset Management had a net margin of 23.49% and a return on equity of 72.99%. The business had revenue of $303.01 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $304.01 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.83 EPS. Artisan Partners Asset Management’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Artisan Partners Asset Management will post 3.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Artisan Partners Asset Management Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 15th were given a dividend of $0.77 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 15th. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.8%. Artisan Partners Asset Management’s payout ratio is 77.97%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Artisan Partners Asset Management

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in APAM. UBS Group AG raised its position in Artisan Partners Asset Management by 21.6% in the 4th quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 279,067 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $11,369,000 after purchasing an additional 49,635 shares during the period. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System purchased a new position in shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management during the first quarter valued at approximately $1,135,000. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL purchased a new position in shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management during the third quarter valued at approximately $3,653,000. Vestcor Inc grew its stake in shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management by 154.5% during the fourth quarter. Vestcor Inc now owns 45,733 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,863,000 after buying an additional 27,762 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Navellier & Associates Inc. bought a new position in shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $3,490,000. Institutional investors own 86.45% of the company’s stock.

About Artisan Partners Asset Management

Artisan Partners Asset Management Inc is a global investment management firm that specializes in active, fundamental research-driven strategies across a range of equity, fixed income and alternative asset classes. Founded in 1994 by Andrew Ziegler, the company has built a reputation for its team-based approach to portfolio construction, emphasizing deep sector expertise and independent analysis. Its product lineup includes U.S. and international equity strategies, global emerging markets, as well as credit and multisector fixed income offerings.

Artisan Partners serves a diverse client base that spans institutional investors, intermediaries and high-net-worth individuals located in North America, Europe and Asia.