First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. Purchases New Shares in Artisan Partners Asset Management Inc. (NYSE:APAM)

First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. purchased a new stake in shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management Inc. (NYSE:APAM - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 7,024 shares of the asset manager's stock, valued at approximately $275,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Artisan Partners Asset Management during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $20,607,000. Channing Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management by 14.5% during the fourth quarter. Channing Capital Management LLC now owns 1,770,526 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $76,221,000 after purchasing an additional 224,455 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management by 98.2% in the 4th quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 439,057 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $18,901,000 after buying an additional 217,552 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC increased its holdings in Artisan Partners Asset Management by 3,041.5% during the fourth quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 150,730 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $6,495,000 after buying an additional 145,932 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in Artisan Partners Asset Management in the fourth quarter worth about $5,627,000. 86.45% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Samuel Bentson Sellers sold 6,801 shares of the business's stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 40,529 shares in the company, valued at $1,793,002.96. The trade was a 14.37% 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, CFO Charles J. Daley, Jr. sold 15,448 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.45, for a total transaction of $624,871.60. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 91,363 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,695,633.35. The trade was a 14.46% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 12.53% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently weighed in on APAM. 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. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management from $43.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Evercore ISI dropped 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. Cowen restated a "hold" rating on shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. Finally, TD Securities boosted their price objective on shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management from $35.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $37.90.

Artisan Partners Asset Management Price Performance

APAM traded up $0.37 on Thursday, reaching $42.99. The stock had a trading volume of 696,923 shares, compared to its average volume of 496,527. The company has a market capitalization of $3.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.81 and a beta of 1.70. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $39.06 and a 200-day moving average of $41.90. The company has a current ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. Artisan Partners Asset Management Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $32.75 and a fifty-two week high of $49.54.

Artisan Partners Asset Management (NYSE:APAM - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The asset manager reported $0.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.76 by $0.07. Artisan Partners Asset Management had a return on equity of 74.02% and a net margin of 23.36%. The company had revenue of $277.10 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $281.15 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.76 EPS. Artisan Partners Asset Management's quarterly revenue was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Artisan Partners Asset Management Inc. will post 3.6 EPS for the current year.

Artisan Partners Asset Management Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 16th were issued a $0.68 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 16th. This represents a $2.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.33%. Artisan Partners Asset Management's payout ratio is 75.14%.

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.