Artisan Partners Asset Management (NYSE:APAM) Downgraded by StockNews.com to Hold

StockNews.com cut shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management (NYSE:APAM) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note published on Thursday morning.

Other analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on Artisan Partners Asset Management from $40.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. TD Cowen boosted their target price on Artisan Partners Asset Management from $41.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on Artisan Partners Asset Management from $53.00 to $51.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Artisan Partners Asset Management has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $44.38.

Artisan Partners Asset Management Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE:APAM opened at $44.85 on Thursday. Artisan Partners Asset Management has a fifty-two week low of $37.89 and a fifty-two week high of $49.54. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $44.56 and its 200 day moving average price is $43.67. The company has a quick ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The stock has a market cap of $3.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.49 and a beta of 1.81.

Artisan Partners Asset Management (NYSE:APAM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The asset manager reported $1.05 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.97 by $0.08. Artisan Partners Asset Management had a net margin of 23.95% and a return on equity of 71.50%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Artisan Partners Asset Management will post 3.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Artisan Partners Asset Management Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.46%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. Artisan Partners Asset Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 91.37%.

Institutional Trading of Artisan Partners Asset Management

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in APAM. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Artisan Partners Asset Management in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $20,607,000. Wasatch Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management by 25.3% in the 3rd quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 1,812,080 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $78,499,000 after acquiring an additional 365,434 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its position in Artisan Partners Asset Management by 22.0% in the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,122,086 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $48,609,000 after purchasing an additional 202,074 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Artisan Partners Asset Management by 6.2% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,643,915 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $114,534,000 after purchasing an additional 154,536 shares during the period. Finally, Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. boosted its stake in Artisan Partners Asset Management by 6.9% during the 3rd quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 1,533,396 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $66,426,000 after purchasing an additional 99,005 shares during the period. 86.45% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Artisan Partners Asset Management

Artisan Partners Asset Management Inc is publicly owned investment manager. It provides its services to pension and profit sharing plans, trusts, endowments, foundations, charitable organizations, government entities, private funds and non-U.S. funds, as well as mutual funds, non-U.S. funds and collective trusts.