Principal Financial Group Inc. Sells 15,957 Shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management Inc. (NYSE:APAM)

Principal Financial Group Inc. cut its stake in Artisan Partners Asset Management Inc. (NYSE:APAM) by 4.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 330,534 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 15,957 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.41% of Artisan Partners Asset Management worth $14,319,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in APAM. Matrix Trust Co purchased a new stake in Artisan Partners Asset Management in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $30,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management by 81.5% in the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 775 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 348 shares during the period. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management by 41.8% in the third quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,004 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $43,000 after buying an additional 296 shares in the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. boosted its stake in Artisan Partners Asset Management by 735.9% during the third quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 1,212 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $52,000 after buying an additional 1,067 shares during the period. Finally, Quarry LP bought a new stake in Artisan Partners Asset Management during the second quarter valued at $63,000. 86.45% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Artisan Partners Asset Management Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE APAM opened at $46.67 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $43.93 and its 200 day moving average is $42.63. The stock has a market cap of $3.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.00 and a beta of 1.79. Artisan Partners Asset Management Inc. has a 1-year low of $36.45 and a 1-year high of $49.52. The company has a current ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49.

Artisan Partners Asset Management (NYSE:APAM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The asset manager reported $0.92 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.90 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $279.60 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $279.70 million. Artisan Partners Asset Management had a net margin of 23.95% and a return on equity of 71.50%. The business’s revenue was up 12.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.75 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Artisan Partners Asset Management Inc. will post 3.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Artisan Partners Asset Management Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be paid a $0.82 dividend. This represents a $3.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.03%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 15th. Artisan Partners Asset Management’s dividend payout ratio is presently 91.36%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on Artisan Partners Asset Management from $40.00 to $39.50 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management from $40.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $50.00 target price on shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management in a research report on Monday, July 29th. TD Cowen boosted their price target on shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management from $41.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $44.13.

Artisan Partners Asset Management Company 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.