Artisan Partners Asset Management (NYSE:APAM) Upgraded to Buy at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management (NYSE:APAM) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report published on Wednesday.

Several other research firms also recently weighed in on APAM. TD Cowen lifted their target price on shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management from $38.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price on shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management from $40.00 to $39.50 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $50.00 price target on shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management in a research report on Monday, July 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $42.83.

Artisan Partners Asset Management Price Performance

Shares of NYSE APAM opened at $43.20 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $42.22 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $42.28. Artisan Partners Asset Management has a 1-year low of $32.12 and a 1-year high of $47.08. The firm has a market cap of $3.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.17 and a beta of 1.79.

Artisan Partners Asset Management (NYSE:APAM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The asset manager reported $0.82 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.87 by ($0.05). Artisan Partners Asset Management had a return on equity of 71.76% and a net margin of 22.75%. The firm had revenue of $270.80 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $274.70 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.71 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 11.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Artisan Partners Asset Management will post 3.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Artisan Partners Asset Management

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of APAM. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in Artisan Partners Asset Management by 14.2% in the 3rd quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 42,626 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,840,000 after purchasing an additional 5,286 shares during the period. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in Artisan Partners Asset Management by 22.6% during the third quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 43,969 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,905,000 after buying an additional 8,095 shares during the period. Romano Brothers AND Company grew its position in Artisan Partners Asset Management by 3.5% during the third quarter. Romano Brothers AND Company now owns 70,378 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $3,049,000 after buying an additional 2,409 shares in the last quarter. Greenleaf Trust bought a new position in Artisan Partners Asset Management in the 3rd quarter worth about $431,000. Finally, Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. increased its stake in Artisan Partners Asset Management by 735.9% in the 3rd quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 1,212 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $52,000 after acquiring an additional 1,067 shares during the last quarter. 86.45% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.