Artisan Partners Asset Management Inc. $APAM Shares Sold by Royce & Associates LP

Key Points

• Royce & Associates LP cut its stake in Artisan Partners Asset Management by 5.7% in the fourth quarter, though it still held about 1.03 million shares worth roughly $42.0 million.
• Institutional ownership remains very high, with hedge funds and other investors holding 86.45% of APAM; several firms, including Federated Hermes and Qube Research, significantly increased their positions.
• Analysts are mixed on the stock, with a consensus "Hold" rating and average price target of $39.25, while the company also reported quarterly EPS of $0.87, slightly below estimates, and declared a quarterly dividend of $0.77 per share.

Royce & Associates LP decreased its holdings in Artisan Partners Asset Management Inc. (NYSE:APAM - Free Report) by 5.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,031,344 shares of the asset manager's stock after selling 62,498 shares during the quarter. Royce & Associates LP owned approximately 1.28% of Artisan Partners Asset Management worth $42,017,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of APAM. Federated Hermes Inc. boosted its holdings in Artisan Partners Asset Management by 132.1% in the third quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 469,370 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $20,371,000 after purchasing an additional 267,136 shares during the last quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd boosted its holdings in Artisan Partners Asset Management by 202.9% in the third quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 348,615 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $15,130,000 after purchasing an additional 233,523 shares during the last quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Artisan Partners Asset Management by 15.0% in the third quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 1,573,381 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $68,285,000 after purchasing an additional 205,380 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC boosted its holdings in Artisan Partners Asset Management by 451.0% in the third quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 147,971 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $6,422,000 after purchasing an additional 121,115 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC boosted its holdings in Artisan Partners Asset Management by 30.7% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 512,433 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $22,240,000 after purchasing an additional 120,267 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.45% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

APAM has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Evercore set a $37.00 price target on Artisan Partners Asset Management in a report on Friday, April 10th. Zacks Research raised Artisan Partners Asset Management from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 20th. Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their price target on Artisan Partners Asset Management from $48.00 to $43.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Artisan Partners Asset Management from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, April 11th. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded Artisan Partners Asset Management from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a report on Friday, March 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $39.25.

Artisan Partners Asset Management Stock Down 0.2%

NYSE:APAM opened at $37.70 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.54 and a beta of 1.68. Artisan Partners Asset Management Inc. has a one year low of $34.99 and a one year high of $48.50. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $36.87 and a 200 day simple moving average of $40.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 0.82.

Artisan Partners Asset Management (NYSE:APAM - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The asset manager reported $0.87 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.91 by ($0.04). The firm had revenue of $303.01 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $304.01 million. Artisan Partners Asset Management had a return on equity of 72.99% and a net margin of 23.49%.The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 9.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.83 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Artisan Partners Asset Management Inc. will post 3.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Artisan Partners Asset Management Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 29th. Investors of record on Friday, May 15th will be paid a $0.77 dividend. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.2%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 15th. Artisan Partners Asset Management's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 77.97%.

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.

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