Artisan Partners Asset Management (NYSE:APAM) Stock Rating Lowered by Zacks Research

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

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

Artisan Partners Asset Management Trading Up 1.3%

APAM opened at $31.65 on Tuesday. Artisan Partners Asset Management has a fifty-two week low of $30.86 and a fifty-two week 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 firm has a market capitalization of $2.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.68 and a beta of 1.70. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $38.86 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $37.79.

Artisan Partners Asset Management (NYSE:APAM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 28th. The asset manager reported $0.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.91 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $307.91 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $301.32 million. Artisan Partners Asset Management had a net margin of 24.08% and a return on equity of 73.11%. The company’s revenue was up 8.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.83 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Artisan Partners Asset Management will post 3.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Artisan Partners Asset Management news, EVP Gregory Ramirez sold 7,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 19th. The shares were 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 owned 109,194 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,650,572.46. This represents a 6.02% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 11.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of APAM. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. boosted its stake in shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management by 12.6% in the 1st 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 purchasing an additional 289,105 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management by 1.9% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,670,380 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $60,782,000 after buying an additional 30,863 shares during the period. Wasatch Advisors LP increased its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 132,708 shares during the period. Punch & Associates Investment Management Inc. raised its stake 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 worth $20,063,000 after buying an additional 113,491 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE raised its stake in Artisan Partners Asset Management by 11.0% during the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 343,520 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $12,501,000 after buying an additional 33,921 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.