Vanguard Group Inc. Lowers Stock Position in Artisan Partners Asset Management Inc. (NYSE:APAM)

Vanguard Group Inc. decreased its position in shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management Inc. (NYSE:APAM) by 1.2% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,798,308 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 91,628 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned 9.75% of Artisan Partners Asset Management worth $291,813,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of APAM. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Artisan Partners Asset Management by 26.1% during the first quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 27,715 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,091,000 after acquiring an additional 5,731 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position in Artisan Partners Asset Management by 3.0% during the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 832,958 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $32,777,000 after acquiring an additional 24,651 shares during the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC lifted its position in Artisan Partners Asset Management by 19.9% during the first quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 22,175 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $874,000 after acquiring an additional 3,673 shares during the last quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC purchased a new stake in Artisan Partners Asset Management during the first quarter valued at approximately $256,000. Finally, Citigroup Inc. lifted its position in Artisan Partners Asset Management by 134.5% during the first quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 41,939 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,650,000 after acquiring an additional 24,053 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.45% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have issued reports on APAM shares. TD Cowen started coverage on shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management in a report on Thursday, January 4th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $41.00 price target for the company. StockNews.com raised shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday, March 17th.

Artisan Partners Asset Management Trading Up 2.6 %

Shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management stock opened at $45.56 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 0.64 and a quick ratio of 0.64. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $42.94 and a 200 day moving average price of $40.01. Artisan Partners Asset Management Inc. has a 1 year low of $30.69 and a 1 year high of $45.92. The stock has a market cap of $3.64 billion, a PE ratio of 14.42 and a beta of 1.85.

Artisan Partners Asset Management (NYSE:APAM) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 31st. The asset manager reported $0.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.78. Artisan Partners Asset Management had a net margin of 22.80% and a return on equity of 73.85%. The firm had revenue of $249.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $249.90 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.65 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 10.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Artisan Partners Asset Management Inc. will post 3.31 earnings per share for the current year.

Artisan Partners Asset Management Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a None dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 29th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 15th were issued a $1.02 dividend. This is a boost from Artisan Partners Asset Management’s previous None dividend of $0.65. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 14th. This represents a yield of 5.5%. Artisan Partners Asset Management’s payout ratio is presently 86.08%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Artisan Partners Asset Management

In other Artisan Partners Asset Management news, EVP Gregory K. Ramirez sold 2,500 shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.28, for a total value of $105,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 83,335 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,523,403.80. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 18.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Artisan Partners Asset Management Profile

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.