Artisan Partners Asset Management Inc. (NYSE:APAM) Shares Purchased by GAMMA Investing LLC

GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in Artisan Partners Asset Management Inc. (NYSE:APAM - Free Report) by 4,032.2% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 61,074 shares of the asset manager's stock after buying an additional 59,596 shares during the quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC owned 0.08% of Artisan Partners Asset Management worth $23,880,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Bank of Montreal Can boosted its stake in shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management by 40.2% in 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. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in Artisan Partners Asset Management by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 341,336 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $14,695,000 after purchasing an additional 10,802 shares in the last quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. purchased a new stake in Artisan Partners Asset Management during the fourth quarter worth $255,000. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its position in Artisan Partners Asset Management by 60.8% during the fourth quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 42,759 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $1,841,000 after purchasing an additional 16,166 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its position in Artisan Partners Asset Management by 18.7% during the fourth quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 50,592 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $2,225,000 after purchasing an additional 7,966 shares in the last quarter. 86.45% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Artisan Partners Asset Management Stock Down 0.6%

APAM traded down $0.26 on Thursday, reaching $40.27. The company's stock had a trading volume of 319,190 shares, compared to its average volume of 495,102. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 0.56 and a quick ratio of 0.73. The business's 50 day moving average is $38.78 and its 200 day moving average is $42.05. Artisan Partners Asset Management Inc. has a 1 year low of $32.75 and a 1 year high of $49.54. The stock has a market cap of $3.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.06 and a beta of 1.68.

Artisan Partners Asset Management (NYSE:APAM - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The asset manager reported $0.83 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 the consensus estimate of $281.15 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.76 EPS. Artisan Partners Asset Management's quarterly revenue was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Artisan Partners Asset Management Inc. will post 3.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Artisan Partners Asset Management Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 16th were issued a dividend of $0.68 per share. This represents a $2.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.75%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 16th. Artisan Partners Asset Management's dividend payout ratio is presently 75.14%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have commented on APAM. Cowen reiterated a "hold" rating on shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. TD Cowen dropped their target price on Artisan Partners Asset Management from $46.00 to $35.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note 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. 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, Wall Street Zen raised Artisan Partners Asset Management from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Artisan Partners Asset Management has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $37.90.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Samuel Bentson Sellers sold 6,801 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.24, for a total transaction of $300,876.24. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 40,529 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,793,002.96. This represents a 14.37% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 12.53% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.