Artisan Partners Asset Management (NYSE:APAM) Hits New 52-Week High – Time to Buy?

Artisan Partners Asset Management Inc. (NYSE:APAM) shares hit a new 52-week high during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $48.83 and last traded at $48.40, with a volume of 2520 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $45.53.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

APAM has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $50.00 target price on shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management in a research report on Monday, July 29th. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on Artisan Partners Asset Management from $41.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their target price on Artisan Partners Asset Management from $40.00 to $39.50 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Artisan Partners Asset Management from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $44.17.

Artisan Partners Asset Management Stock Performance

The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $42.79 and a 200-day moving average price of $42.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a current ratio of 0.68. The company has a market cap of $3.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.69 and a beta of 1.79.

Artisan Partners Asset Management (NYSE:APAM) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The asset manager reported $0.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by $0.02. Artisan Partners Asset Management had a return on equity of 71.51% and a net margin of 23.95%. The firm had revenue of $279.60 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $279.70 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.75 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 12.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that Artisan Partners Asset Management Inc. will post 3.49 EPS for the current year.

Artisan Partners Asset Management Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 29th. Investors of record on Friday, November 15th will be issued a $0.82 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 15th. This represents a $3.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.69%. Artisan Partners Asset Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 79.11%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of APAM. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management by 2.5% in the second quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 6,626,937 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $273,494,000 after purchasing an additional 160,297 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in Artisan Partners Asset Management by 4.8% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,617,617 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $66,757,000 after buying an additional 74,393 shares during the last quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. grew its holdings in Artisan Partners Asset Management by 7.7% in the 2nd quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 1,434,391 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $59,197,000 after buying an additional 102,421 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased 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 worth $48,609,000 after buying an additional 202,074 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James & Associates lifted its holdings in shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management by 8.0% during the third quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 453,638 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $19,652,000 after buying an additional 33,618 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.45% of the company’s stock.

Artisan Partners Asset Management Company Profile

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.