Crestline Management LP Invests $506,000 in Artisan Partners Asset Management Inc. (NYSE:APAM)

Crestline Management LP bought a new stake in shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management Inc. (NYSE:APAM - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 11,745 shares of the asset manager's stock, valued at approximately $506,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in APAM. Bank of Montreal Can lifted its position in Artisan Partners Asset Management by 40.2% in the 4th quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 15,646 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $674,000 after buying an additional 4,485 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in Artisan Partners Asset Management by 3.3% in the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 341,336 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $14,695,000 after purchasing an additional 10,802 shares during the last quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. bought a new stake in Artisan Partners Asset Management in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $255,000. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its position in Artisan Partners Asset Management by 60.8% in the fourth quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 42,759 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $1,841,000 after purchasing an additional 16,166 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its position in Artisan Partners Asset Management by 18.7% in the fourth quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 50,592 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $2,225,000 after purchasing an additional 7,966 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.45% of the company's stock.

Artisan Partners Asset Management Stock Down 0.4%

Shares of NYSE APAM traded down $0.19 during trading on Friday, reaching $43.45. The company had a trading volume of 246,373 shares, compared to its average volume of 479,948. The stock has a market cap of $3.49 billion, a PE ratio of 11.91 and a beta of 1.68. The company has a quick ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 0.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. Artisan Partners Asset Management Inc. has a 12-month low of $32.75 and a 12-month high of $49.54. The business's 50-day moving average is $38.46 and its 200 day moving average is $42.60.

Artisan Partners Asset Management (NYSE:APAM - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The asset manager reported $0.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.76 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $277.10 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $281.15 million. Artisan Partners Asset Management had a return on equity of 74.02% and a net margin of 23.36%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.76 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be issued a $0.68 dividend. This represents a $2.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.26%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 16th. Artisan Partners Asset Management's dividend payout ratio is 75.14%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently commented on APAM. TD Cowen decreased their target price on Artisan Partners Asset Management from $46.00 to $35.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on Artisan Partners Asset Management from $43.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. StockNews.com cut Artisan Partners Asset Management from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. TD Securities upped their price target on Artisan Partners Asset Management from $35.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Evercore ISI reduced their price target on Artisan Partners Asset Management from $33.00 to $32.00 and set an "in-line" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $37.90.

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.