Crawford Investment Counsel Inc. Acquires 14,271 Shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management Inc. $APAM

Crawford Investment Counsel Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management Inc. (NYSE:APAM) by 2.8% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 517,768 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 14,271 shares during the quarter. Crawford Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Artisan Partners Asset Management were worth $21,094,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,714,737 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $334,820,000 after purchasing an additional 52,644 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,048,225 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $124,185,000 after purchasing an additional 54,667 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management by 0.4% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,769,107 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $122,755,000 after purchasing an additional 12,356 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley increased its stake in shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 2,022,630 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $82,402,000 after purchasing an additional 30,515 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Channing Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management by 14.6% during the 4th quarter. Channing Capital Management LLC now owns 1,967,732 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $80,165,000 after buying an additional 250,475 shares in the last quarter. 86.45% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Artisan Partners Asset Management Stock Up 1.1%

Shares of APAM opened at $36.47 on Wednesday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $37.04 and its 200 day moving average is $39.61. The company has a market capitalization of $2.94 billion, a PE ratio of 9.23 and a beta of 1.67. Artisan Partners Asset Management Inc. has a 12-month low of $34.37 and a 12-month high of $48.50. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44.

Artisan Partners Asset Management (NYSE:APAM) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The asset manager reported $0.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.91 by ($0.04). The business had revenue of $303.01 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $304.01 million. Artisan Partners Asset Management had a net margin of 23.49% and a return on equity of 72.99%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.83 EPS. Research analysts expect that Artisan Partners Asset Management Inc. will post 3.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Artisan Partners Asset Management Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 29th. Investors of record on Friday, May 15th were paid a dividend of $0.77 per share. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 8.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 15th. Artisan Partners Asset Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 77.97%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on APAM. Zacks Research raised Artisan Partners Asset Management from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 20th. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their price objective on Artisan Partners Asset Management from $48.00 to $43.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Evercore set a $39.00 price objective on Artisan Partners Asset Management in a research report on Monday, June 8th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price objective on Artisan Partners Asset Management from $39.00 to $34.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $39.75.

Artisan Partners Asset Management Profile

Artisan Partners Asset Management Inc is a global investment management firm that specializes in active, fundamental research-driven strategies across a range of equity, fixed income and alternative asset classes. Founded in 1994 by Andrew Ziegler, the company has built a reputation for its team-based approach to portfolio construction, emphasizing deep sector expertise and independent analysis. Its product lineup includes U.S. and international equity strategies, global emerging markets, as well as credit and multisector fixed income offerings.

Artisan Partners serves a diverse client base that spans institutional investors, intermediaries and high-net-worth individuals located in North America, Europe and Asia.