Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. Boosts Stock Holdings in Artisan Partners Asset Management Inc. (NYSE:APAM)

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management Inc. (NYSE:APAM) by 6.1% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,940,562 shares of the asset manager’s stock after acquiring an additional 167,930 shares during the quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Artisan Partners Asset Management were worth $114,976,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Bessemer Group Inc. increased its holdings in Artisan Partners Asset Management by 208.6% in the fourth quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 574 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 388 shares during the last quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC purchased a new position in Artisan Partners Asset Management in the first quarter valued at $63,000. CWM LLC increased its holdings in Artisan Partners Asset Management by 77.0% in the first quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,126 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $83,000 after buying an additional 925 shares during the last quarter. NBC Securities Inc. increased its holdings in Artisan Partners Asset Management by 118,700.0% in the first quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 2,376 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $92,000 after buying an additional 2,374 shares during the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV increased its holdings in Artisan Partners Asset Management by 36.2% in the first quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 3,996 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $156,000 after buying an additional 1,062 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.45% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Artisan Partners Asset Management

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

Artisan Partners Asset Management Stock Performance

NYSE APAM opened at $46.71 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 0.97 and a quick ratio of 0.97. Artisan Partners Asset Management Inc. has a 1 year low of $32.75 and a 1 year high of $49.54. The company has a market capitalization of $3.77 billion, a PE ratio of 12.42 and a beta of 1.69. The company has a fifty day moving average of $44.72 and a two-hundred day moving average of $41.98.

Artisan Partners Asset Management (NYSE:APAM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 29th. The asset manager reported $0.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.82 by $0.01. Artisan Partners Asset Management had a net margin of 23.87% and a return on equity of 71.72%. The company had revenue of $282.80 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $269.00 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.82 earnings per share. Artisan Partners Asset Management’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Artisan Partners Asset Management Inc. will post 3.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Artisan Partners Asset Management Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 29th. Investors of record on Friday, August 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.73 per share. This is an increase from Artisan Partners Asset Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. This represents a $2.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 15th. Artisan Partners Asset Management’s dividend payout ratio is 72.34%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently commented on the company. TD Securities increased their target price on Artisan Partners Asset Management from $35.00 to $39.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Cowen reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their target price on Artisan Partners Asset Management from $50.00 to $51.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Evercore ISI dropped their target price on Artisan Partners Asset Management from $33.00 to $32.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $39.30.

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.