Affiliated Managers Group (NYSE:AMG) Cut to Buy at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen cut shares of Affiliated Managers Group (NYSE:AMG) from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a research note released on Saturday morning.

A number of other brokerages have also commented on AMG. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $408.00 price objective on shares of Affiliated Managers Group and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 13th. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Affiliated Managers Group in a research report on Wednesday, January 14th. Zacks Research lowered shares of Affiliated Managers Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, December 15th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Affiliated Managers Group in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of Affiliated Managers Group from $300.00 to $341.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 6th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $350.14.

Affiliated Managers Group Stock Up 0.5%

AMG stock opened at $266.83 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 1.34 and a quick ratio of 1.34. Affiliated Managers Group has a 52-week low of $139.22 and a 52-week high of $334.78. The company has a 50-day moving average of $295.13 and a two-hundred day moving average of $277.49. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.44 and a beta of 1.20.

Affiliated Managers Group (NYSE:AMG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 12th. The asset manager reported $9.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $8.75 by $0.73. Affiliated Managers Group had a net margin of 34.55% and a return on equity of 18.45%. The company had revenue of $556.60 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $578.54 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $6.53 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Affiliated Managers Group will post 22.86 EPS for the current year.

Affiliated Managers Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 9th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 23rd were given a dividend of $0.01 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 23rd. This represents a $0.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.0%. Affiliated Managers Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 0.17%.

Insider Activity

In related news, General Counsel Kavita Padiyar sold 2,200 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $278.24, for a total value of $612,128.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel owned 42,672 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,873,057.28. This represents a 4.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, COO Thomas M. Wojcik sold 8,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $286.30, for a total transaction of $2,290,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 159,465 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $45,654,829.50. This trade represents a 4.78% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Corporate insiders own 4.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Carrera Capital Advisors acquired a new position in Affiliated Managers Group in the third quarter worth about $4,295,000. Allianz Asset Management GmbH raised its position in Affiliated Managers Group by 14.6% in the third quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 393,161 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $93,741,000 after purchasing an additional 50,219 shares in the last quarter. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ raised its position in Affiliated Managers Group by 103.0% in the third quarter. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ now owns 20,100 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $4,792,000 after purchasing an additional 10,200 shares in the last quarter. Oliver Luxxe Assets LLC acquired a new position in Affiliated Managers Group in the third quarter worth about $2,673,000. Finally, Paragon Associates & Paragon Associates II Joint Venture acquired a new stake in shares of Affiliated Managers Group during the third quarter worth approximately $5,357,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.30% of the company’s stock.

About Affiliated Managers Group

Affiliated Managers Group, Inc (NYSE: AMG) is a global asset management holding company that partners with boutique investment firms. Founded in 1993 and headquartered in West Palm Beach, Florida, AMG invests in and collaborates with independent investment managers to foster growth while preserving their entrepreneurial culture. Through equity stakes and strategic support, the company aims to enhance its affiliates’ distribution capabilities, operational infrastructure and access to capital.

The company’s core business activities include providing capital solutions, distribution services and operational support to affiliated investment firms.