Artisan Partners Asset Management (NYSE:APAM) Stock Passes Below 200-Day Moving Average - Should You Sell?

Key Points

• APAM shares fell below their 200-day moving average, trading as low as $35.53 versus the $37.97 average, signaling recent technical weakness.
• Analysts have a consensus “Hold” rating with an average price target of $38.00; ratings include one Buy, four Holds, and one Sell.
• The company reported quarterly EPS and revenue above expectations and raised its quarterly dividend to $0.80, implying an annualized yield of approximately 9.0%.

Artisan Partners Asset Management Inc. (NYSE:APAM - Get Free Report)'s share price passed below its two hundred day moving average during trading on Wednesday . The stock has a two hundred day moving average of $37.97 and traded as low as $35.53. Artisan Partners Asset Management shares last traded at $35.6930, with a volume of 729,050 shares.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently commented on APAM. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, September 14th. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Weiss Ratings restated a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management in a research report on Thursday, July 2nd. Evercore set a $36.00 target price on Artisan Partners Asset Management in a research note on Friday, July 10th. Finally, TD Cowen reaffirmed a "hold" rating and issued a $37.00 target price on shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management in a report on Friday, September 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $38.00.

Artisan Partners Asset Management Stock Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. The stock has a market cap of $2.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.66 and a beta of 1.67. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $40.53 and a 200 day simple moving average of $37.97.

Artisan Partners Asset Management (NYSE:APAM - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 28th. The asset manager reported $0.94 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.91 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $307.91 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $301.32 million. Artisan Partners Asset Management had a net margin of 24.08% and a return on equity of 73.11%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 8.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.83 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Artisan Partners Asset Management Inc. will post 3.91 EPS for the current year.

Artisan Partners Asset Management Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 17th were given a $0.80 dividend. This is an increase from Artisan Partners Asset Management's previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 9.0%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 17th. Artisan Partners Asset Management's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 77.67%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Artisan Partners Asset Management

In other Artisan Partners Asset Management news, EVP Gregory Ramirez sold 7,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.59, for a total transaction of $298,130.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 109,194 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,650,572.46. The trade was a 6.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 11.30% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Trust Co. of Vermont acquired a new position in Artisan Partners Asset Management in the 2nd quarter worth about $28,000. Nykredit A S bought a new position in Artisan Partners Asset Management in the second quarter valued at about $40,000. Highland Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management during the second quarter valued at about $51,000. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio acquired a new stake in shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management during the second quarter valued at about $52,000. Finally, SHP Wealth Management bought a new stake in shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management during the fourth quarter worth about $64,000. 86.45% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Artisan Partners Asset Management

Artisan Partners Asset Management Inc is a global investment management company headquartered in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Through its subsidiaries and investment teams, the company provides actively managed investment strategies to institutional investors, financial intermediaries and private clients.

The firm offers a range of equity, fixed-income and alternative investment strategies, including U.S. and international equities, emerging-market investments, credit and other specialized portfolios.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.