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

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

APAM has been the subject of a number of other reports. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price objective 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. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management in a research report on Thursday, July 2nd. TD Cowen restated a “hold” rating on shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management in a report on Thursday, April 9th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, April 11th. Finally, Evercore set a $36.00 price objective on Artisan Partners Asset Management in a research report on Friday, July 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Artisan Partners Asset Management presently has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $39.25.

Artisan Partners Asset Management Stock Down 1.2%

Shares of APAM opened at $38.53 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44. Artisan Partners Asset Management has a 12 month low of $33.96 and a 12 month high of $48.46. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $36.61 and its 200-day moving average is $38.65. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.10 billion, a PE ratio of 9.75 and a beta of 1.68.

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

Institutional Trading of Artisan Partners Asset Management

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in APAM. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Artisan Partners Asset Management by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,048,225 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $124,185,000 after purchasing an additional 54,667 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management by 0.4% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,769,107 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $122,755,000 after buying an additional 12,356 shares during the last quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. raised its position in shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management by 12.6% during 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 buying an additional 289,105 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley lifted its holdings in shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 2,022,630 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $82,402,000 after acquiring an additional 30,515 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Channing Capital Management LLC grew its position in Artisan Partners Asset Management by 14.6% in the fourth quarter. Channing Capital Management LLC now owns 1,967,732 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $80,165,000 after acquiring an additional 250,475 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.