Artisan Partners Asset Management (NYSE:APAM) Downgraded to Strong Sell Rating by Zacks Research

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

Several other research firms have also weighed in on APAM. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management from $39.00 to $34.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 7th. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $48.00 price target on shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management in a research note on Tuesday. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Friday, March 20th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, April 11th. Finally, TD Cowen reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $40.20.

Artisan Partners Asset Management Stock Up 1.3%

Shares of APAM stock opened at $38.43 on Tuesday. Artisan Partners Asset Management has a one year low of $34.99 and a one year high of $48.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.91. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $38.01 and a 200 day moving average price of $41.26. The stock has a market cap of $3.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.58 and a beta of 1.76.

Artisan Partners Asset Management (NYSE:APAM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 3rd. The asset manager reported $1.26 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.11 by $0.15. Artisan Partners Asset Management had a return on equity of 73.73% and a net margin of 24.26%.The company had revenue of $335.51 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $322.13 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.05 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 13.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Artisan Partners Asset Management will post 3.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Artisan Partners Asset Management Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced an annual dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 27th. Investors of record on Friday, February 13th were paid a dividend of $0.57 per share. This represents a yield of 134.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 13th. Artisan Partners Asset Management’s dividend payout ratio is presently 100.75%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Federated Hermes Inc. boosted its stake in Artisan Partners Asset Management by 132.1% in the 3rd quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 469,370 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $20,371,000 after purchasing an additional 267,136 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management by 18.5% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 413,389 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $17,941,000 after buying an additional 64,625 shares during the period. Jackson Creek Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management during the third quarter worth about $1,613,000. Ruffer LLP bought a new position in shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management during the third quarter worth about $3,041,000. Finally, AlphaQuest LLC raised its position in Artisan Partners Asset Management by 795.3% in the 3rd quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 100,914 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $4,380,000 after buying an additional 89,642 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.45% of the company’s stock.

Artisan Partners Asset Management Company Profile

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.