Principal Financial Group Inc. Acquires 64,625 Shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management Inc. $APAM

Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management Inc. (NYSE:APAM) by 18.5% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 413,389 shares of the asset manager’s stock after buying an additional 64,625 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 0.51% of Artisan Partners Asset Management worth $17,941,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Arizona State Retirement System boosted its stake in Artisan Partners Asset Management by 2.0% in the third quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 20,840 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $904,000 after acquiring an additional 409 shares during the last quarter. AlphaQuest LLC boosted its position in shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management by 795.3% in the 3rd quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 100,914 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $4,380,000 after purchasing an additional 89,642 shares during the last quarter. Ruffer LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management during the third quarter worth $3,041,000. AE Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Artisan Partners Asset Management by 14.7% in the third quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,697 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $291,000 after purchasing an additional 857 shares during the last quarter. Finally, New York State Common Retirement Fund lifted its stake in Artisan Partners Asset Management by 0.5% in the third quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 445,283 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $19,325,000 after buying an additional 2,200 shares during the period. 86.45% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently issued reports on APAM. TD Cowen restated a “hold” rating on shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management in a research report on Wednesday, December 10th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management in a report on Monday, December 29th. Evercore increased their target price on shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management from $43.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their price target on shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management from $51.00 to $50.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Finally, Zacks Research cut shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 9th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $44.00.

Artisan Partners Asset Management Stock Performance

Shares of APAM opened at $45.21 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $3.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.27 and a beta of 1.76. Artisan Partners Asset Management Inc. has a twelve month low of $32.75 and a twelve month high of $48.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 0.76. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $42.71 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $43.98.

Artisan Partners Asset Management (NYSE:APAM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 3rd. The asset manager reported $1.26 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.11 by $0.15. The business had revenue of $335.50 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $322.13 million. Artisan Partners Asset Management had a net margin of 24.26% and a return on equity of 73.74%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 13.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.05 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Artisan Partners Asset Management Inc. will post 3.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Artisan Partners Asset Management Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared an annual dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 13th will be issued a $0.57 dividend. This represents a dividend yield of 127.0%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 13th. Artisan Partners Asset Management’s payout ratio is 87.78%.

Artisan Partners Asset Management Profile

Artisan Partners Asset Management Inc is a global investment management firm that specializes in active, fundamental research-driven strategies across a range of equity, fixed income and alternative asset classes. Founded in 1994 by Andrew Ziegler, the company has built a reputation for its team-based approach to portfolio construction, emphasizing deep sector expertise and independent analysis. Its product lineup includes U.S. and international equity strategies, global emerging markets, as well as credit and multisector fixed income offerings.

Artisan Partners serves a diverse client base that spans institutional investors, intermediaries and high-net-worth individuals located in North America, Europe and Asia.