Townsquare Capital LLC Acquires New Shares in Artisan Partners Asset Management Inc. (NYSE:APAM)

Townsquare Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management Inc. (NYSE:APAM) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 6,805 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $293,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of APAM. Larson Financial Group LLC grew its holdings 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 valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 263 shares during the period. Bessemer Group Inc. raised its stake in Artisan Partners Asset Management by 208.6% during the 4th quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 574 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 388 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 330 shares in the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Artisan Partners Asset Management by 166.8% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,027 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $44,000 after acquiring an additional 642 shares during the period. Finally, SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management during the fourth quarter worth about $57,000. 86.45% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Artisan Partners Asset Management Price Performance

Shares of NYSE APAM opened at $34.20 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 0.56 and a quick ratio of 0.73. The business has a 50-day moving average of $39.60 and a 200-day moving average of $43.15. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.40 and a beta of 1.80. Artisan Partners Asset Management Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $32.75 and a fifty-two week high of $49.54.

Artisan Partners Asset Management (NYSE:APAM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The asset manager reported $1.05 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.97 by $0.08. Artisan Partners Asset Management had a return on equity of 74.02% and a net margin of 23.36%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Artisan Partners Asset Management Inc. will post 3.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Artisan Partners Asset Management Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th were given a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.85%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. Artisan Partners Asset Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 92.31%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have commented on APAM shares. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management from $53.00 to $51.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 3rd. TD Cowen reduced their target price on shares of 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. Evercore ISI dropped their price target on Artisan Partners Asset Management from $40.00 to $33.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Artisan Partners Asset Management from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $39.63.

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.