Artisan Partners Asset Management (NYSE:APAM) Given New $42.00 Price Target at Royal Bank Of Canada

Artisan Partners Asset Management (NYSE:APAM) had its price target cut by Royal Bank Of Canada from $43.00 to $42.00 in a research note issued to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. They currently have an outperform rating on the asset manager’s stock.

Other research analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. TD Cowen lowered their price objective on Artisan Partners Asset Management from $37.00 to $33.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, October 12th. Zacks Research lowered shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on Artisan Partners Asset Management from $35.00 to $31.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 2nd. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management in a research report on Tuesday, September 29th. Finally, Evercore set a $33.00 target price on Artisan Partners Asset Management in a research report on Thursday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $34.75.

Artisan Partners Asset Management Trading Up 0.5%

APAM stock opened at $36.56 on Friday. Artisan Partners Asset Management has a 52 week low of $30.86 and a 52 week high of $46.53. The company has a market capitalization of $2.96 billion, a PE ratio of 8.64 and a beta of 1.70. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $36.82 and its 200 day simple moving average is $38.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a current ratio of 0.86.

Artisan Partners Asset Management (NYSE:APAM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 27th. The asset manager reported $1.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.96 by $0.07. Artisan Partners Asset Management had a net margin of 24.54% and a return on equity of 71.69%. The firm had revenue of $312.52 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $307.60 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.02 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Artisan Partners Asset Management will post 3.79 earnings per share for the current year.

Artisan Partners Asset Management Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 30th. Investors of record on Monday, November 16th will be given a $0.88 dividend. This represents a $3.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 9.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 16th. This is a positive change from Artisan Partners Asset Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.80. Artisan Partners Asset Management’s dividend payout ratio is presently 77.67%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Gregory Ramirez sold 7,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.59, for a total transaction of $298,130.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 109,194 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,650,572.46. This represents a 6.02% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 11.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Artisan Partners Asset Management

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in APAM. Optimist Retirement Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management by 2.7% in the third quarter. Optimist Retirement Group LLC now owns 62,581 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,260,000 after buying an additional 1,659 shares in the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management during the third quarter valued at about $2,444,000. Prosperitas Financial LLC grew its holdings in shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management by 9.6% during the third quarter. Prosperitas Financial LLC now owns 8,979 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $324,000 after buying an additional 786 shares during the last quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC bought a new stake in shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management during the third quarter worth about $212,000. Finally, Provident Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management by 17.6% during the third quarter. Provident Investment Management Inc. now owns 28,085 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,014,000 after acquiring an additional 4,210 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.45% of the company’s stock.

About Artisan Partners Asset Management

Artisan Partners Asset Management Inc is an investment management company that provides actively managed investment strategies to institutional and intermediary clients, as well as certain private wealth investors. The company operates through Artisan Partners, L.P. and related entities, offering investment expertise across equity, fixed-income and alternative asset classes.

Its products and services include strategies focused on U.S. and international equities, emerging markets, non-U.S.