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

Artisan Partners Asset Management (NYSE:APAM - Get Free Report) was upgraded by stock analysts at StockNews.com from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report issued on Tuesday.

Several other research firms have also recently weighed in on APAM. Royal Bank of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $50.00 price objective on shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management in a research report on Monday, July 29th. TD Cowen increased their price target on shares of 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. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group cut 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $44.17.

Artisan Partners Asset Management Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:APAM traded up $1.07 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $45.55. The company had a trading volume of 386,196 shares, compared to its average volume of 445,914. The stock has a market cap of $3.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.39 and a beta of 1.79. Artisan Partners Asset Management has a 52-week low of $34.94 and a 52-week high of $47.08. The company has a current ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The company's 50 day moving average price is $42.72 and its 200 day moving average price is $42.28.

Artisan Partners Asset Management (NYSE:APAM - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly 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 net margin of 23.95% and a return on equity of 71.51%. The firm had revenue of $279.60 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $279.70 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.75 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 12.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Artisan Partners Asset Management will post 3.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Artisan Partners Asset Management

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of APAM. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd bought a new stake in Artisan Partners Asset Management in the 1st quarter worth about $734,000. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. grew its stake in shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management by 11.9% during the 1st quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. now owns 400,134 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $18,314,000 after purchasing an additional 42,522 shares during the period. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. grew its stake in shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management by 7.7% during 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 purchasing an additional 102,421 shares during the period. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management during the 1st quarter valued at about $9,907,000. Finally, Raymond James & Associates grew its stake in shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management by 8.0% during the 3rd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 453,638 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $19,652,000 after purchasing an additional 33,618 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.45% of the company's stock.

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.