Artisan Partners Asset Management Inc. (NYSE:APAM) Shares Acquired by Alps Advisors Inc.

Alps Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Artisan Partners Asset Management Inc. (NYSE:APAM - Free Report) by 13.0% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 192,297 shares of the asset manager's stock after acquiring an additional 22,066 shares during the quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. owned approximately 0.24% of Artisan Partners Asset Management worth $7,519,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Bank of Montreal Can grew its holdings in shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management by 40.2% during the fourth quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 15,646 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $674,000 after buying an additional 4,485 shares in the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management by 12.9% during the first quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 57,100 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $2,234,000 after buying an additional 6,508 shares in the last quarter. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. purchased a new position in shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management during the first quarter valued at $275,000. Drake & Associates LLC grew its holdings in shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management by 31.0% during the first quarter. Drake & Associates LLC now owns 40,174 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $1,571,000 after buying an additional 9,518 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Squarepoint Ops LLC grew its holdings in shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management by 80.2% during the fourth quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 19,397 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $835,000 after buying an additional 8,633 shares in the last quarter. 86.45% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Artisan Partners Asset Management

In related news, EVP Samuel Bentson Sellers sold 6,801 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.24, for a total transaction of $300,876.24. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Charles J. Daley, Jr. sold 15,448 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.45, for a total value of $624,871.60. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 91,363 shares in the company, valued at $3,695,633.35. This represents a 14.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 12.53% of the company's stock.

Artisan Partners Asset Management Trading Up 1.6%

Artisan Partners Asset Management stock opened at $48.10 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a current ratio of 0.87. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $42.66 and its 200-day simple moving average is $41.49. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.88 billion, a PE ratio of 13.29 and a beta of 1.70. Artisan Partners Asset Management Inc. has a 52 week low of $32.75 and a 52 week high of $49.54.

Artisan Partners Asset Management (NYSE:APAM - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The asset manager reported $0.83 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.76 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $277.10 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $281.15 million. Artisan Partners Asset Management had a return on equity of 73.48% and a net margin of 23.24%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.76 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Artisan Partners Asset Management Inc. will post 3.6 earnings per share 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 paid a $0.68 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 16th. This represents a $2.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.65%. Artisan Partners Asset Management's payout ratio is presently 75.14%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently issued reports on APAM. TD Securities lifted their price objective on Artisan Partners Asset Management from $35.00 to $39.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Evercore ISI reduced their price target on Artisan Partners Asset Management from $33.00 to $32.00 and set an "in-line" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Wall Street Zen raised Artisan Partners Asset Management from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 20th. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price target on Artisan Partners Asset Management from $44.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Cowen reaffirmed a "hold" rating on shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. One equities 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 stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $39.10.

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.

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