Artisan Partners Asset Management Inc. (NYSE:APAM) Shares Sold by Swiss National Bank

Swiss National Bank lowered its position in Artisan Partners Asset Management Inc. (NYSE:APAM) by 10.0% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 146,600 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 16,200 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank owned 0.18% of Artisan Partners Asset Management worth $4,688,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Morgan Stanley raised its holdings in shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management by 138.0% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 1,817,495 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $53,980,000 after acquiring an additional 1,053,748 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management by 43.1% during the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,521,140 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $45,178,000 after acquiring an additional 458,383 shares during the period. Wasatch Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management by 25.3% during the 1st quarter. Wasatch Advisors Inc. now owns 1,097,574 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $43,190,000 after acquiring an additional 221,893 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC purchased a new position in shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management during the 1st quarter worth $8,173,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management by 2.7% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,206,714 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $244,235,000 after buying an additional 166,010 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.45% of the company’s stock.

Artisan Partners Asset Management Stock Up 0.5 %

APAM stock opened at $38.42 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $39.20 and its 200 day moving average price is $35.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a current ratio of 0.58. Artisan Partners Asset Management Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $25.67 and a fifty-two week high of $42.97. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.23 and a beta of 1.84.

Artisan Partners Asset Management (NYSE:APAM) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, August 2nd. The asset manager reported $0.71 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.61 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $242.90 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $245.55 million. Artisan Partners Asset Management had a return on equity of 77.65% and a net margin of 21.49%. Artisan Partners Asset Management’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.79 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Artisan Partners Asset Management Inc. will post 2.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Artisan Partners Asset Management Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 31st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 17th were paid a $0.61 dividend. This is a positive change from Artisan Partners Asset Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.35%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 16th. Artisan Partners Asset Management’s dividend payout ratio is currently 84.43%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently commented on APAM shares. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management from $40.00 to $45.00 in a research report on Friday, July 21st. StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management in a report on Thursday, August 17th. They issued a “buy” rating on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $34.75.

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.