Royal Bank Of Canada Issues Positive Forecast for Artisan Partners Asset Management (NYSE:APAM) Stock Price

Artisan Partners Asset Management (NYSE:APAM - Get Free Report) had its price target boosted by Royal Bank Of Canada from $44.00 to $50.00 in a report issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an "outperform" rating on the asset manager's stock. Royal Bank Of Canada's target price suggests a potential upside of 6.31% from the company's previous close.

Several other equities research analysts have also commented on the company. TD Cowen cut their price objective on Artisan Partners Asset Management from $46.00 to $35.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Cowen reiterated a "hold" rating on shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. Evercore ISI cut their price objective on Artisan Partners Asset Management from $33.00 to $32.00 and set an "in-line" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Wall Street Zen upgraded Artisan Partners Asset Management from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 20th. Finally, TD Securities upped their price target on Artisan Partners Asset Management from $35.00 to $39.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $39.10.

Artisan Partners Asset Management Stock Performance

APAM traded down $1.09 on Thursday, reaching $47.03. 556,679 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 505,433. The company's 50-day moving average price is $42.66 and its 200 day moving average price is $41.49. Artisan Partners Asset Management has a fifty-two week low of $32.75 and a fifty-two week high of $49.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.87. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.79 billion, a PE ratio of 12.98 and a beta of 1.70.

Artisan Partners Asset Management (NYSE:APAM - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The asset manager reported $0.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.76 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $277.10 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $281.15 million. Artisan Partners Asset Management had a return on equity of 73.48% and a net margin of 23.24%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.76 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Artisan Partners Asset Management will post 3.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Samuel Bentson Sellers sold 6,801 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.24, for a total value of $300,876.24. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 40,529 shares in the company, valued at $1,793,002.96. This represents a 14.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Charles J. Daley, Jr. sold 15,448 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.45, for a total value of $624,871.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 91,363 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,695,633.35. The trade was a 14.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 12.53% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Bessemer Group Inc. lifted its stake in Artisan Partners Asset Management by 208.6% during the fourth quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 574 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 388 shares in the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in Artisan Partners Asset Management by 82.7% during the fourth quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 581 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 263 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Artisan Partners Asset Management by 110.7% during the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 628 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 330 shares in the last quarter. SVB Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Artisan Partners Asset Management during the first quarter worth $33,000. Finally, Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Artisan Partners Asset Management by 24.1% during the second quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,282 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $57,000 after purchasing an additional 249 shares in 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.