Artisan Partners Asset Management (NYSE:APAM) Trading Down 3.9% – Here’s What Happened

Shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management Inc. (NYSE:APAM) fell 3.9% during mid-day trading on Friday . The stock traded as low as $37.75 and last traded at $38.1570. Approximately 118,321 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 84% from the average daily volume of 760,492 shares. The stock had previously closed at $39.70.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Evercore set a $36.00 price target on Artisan Partners Asset Management in a research note on Friday, July 10th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price objective on Artisan Partners Asset Management from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $37.00 target price on shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management in a research report on Friday. Zacks Research cut shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management in a research note on Thursday, July 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $38.00.

Artisan Partners Asset Management Stock Down 4.3%

The business’s 50 day moving average is $40.54 and its 200-day moving average is $38.19. The company has a market cap of $3.08 billion, a PE ratio of 9.21 and a beta of 1.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 0.90 and a quick ratio of 0.90.

Artisan Partners Asset Management (NYSE:APAM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 28th. The asset manager reported $0.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.91 by $0.03. The business 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 company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.83 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Artisan Partners Asset Management Inc. will post 3.91 EPS for the current year.

Artisan Partners Asset Management Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 17th were given a dividend of $0.80 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 17th. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 8.4%. This is an increase from Artisan Partners Asset Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. Artisan Partners Asset Management’s payout ratio is currently 77.67%.

Insider Activity at Artisan Partners Asset Management

In other news, EVP Gregory Ramirez sold 7,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 19th. The stock was 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. This trade represents a 6.02% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 11.30% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Artisan Partners Asset Management

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in APAM. UBS Group AG increased its stake in shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management by 21.6% during the fourth quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 279,067 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $11,369,000 after acquiring an additional 49,635 shares during the period. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System acquired a new position in Artisan Partners Asset Management during the 1st quarter worth approximately $1,135,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in Artisan Partners Asset Management by 1.9% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,670,380 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $60,782,000 after purchasing an additional 30,863 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE raised its stake in shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management by 11.0% during the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 343,520 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $12,501,000 after buying an additional 33,921 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vestcor Inc grew its holdings in Artisan Partners Asset Management by 154.5% during the fourth quarter. Vestcor Inc now owns 45,733 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,863,000 after acquiring an additional 27,762 shares during the period. 86.45% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Artisan Partners Asset Management Company 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.