Victory Capital Management Inc. Purchases 39,578 Shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management Inc. (NYSE:APAM)

Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in Artisan Partners Asset Management Inc. (NYSE:APAM - Free Report) by 3.3% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,228,743 shares of the asset manager's stock after purchasing an additional 39,578 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. owned 1.53% of Artisan Partners Asset Management worth $48,044,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of APAM. Bessemer Group Inc. increased its stake in Artisan Partners Asset Management by 208.6% during the 4th quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 574 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 388 shares during the period. Continuum Advisory LLC acquired a new position in Artisan Partners Asset Management in the first quarter worth $63,000. CWM LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management by 77.0% in the 1st quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,126 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $83,000 after buying an additional 925 shares during the period. NBC Securities Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management by 118,700.0% in the 1st quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 2,376 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $92,000 after buying an additional 2,374 shares during the period. Finally, KBC Group NV boosted its holdings in shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management by 36.2% in the 1st quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 3,996 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $156,000 after buying an additional 1,062 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.45% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Charles J. Daley, Jr. sold 15,448 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.45, for a total transaction of $624,871.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 91,363 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,695,633.35. This represents a 14.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Samuel Bentson Sellers sold 6,801 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.24, for a total transaction of $300,876.24. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 40,529 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,793,002.96. The trade was a 14.37% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 12.53% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

APAM has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Evercore ISI lowered their target price on shares of 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 research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 20th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price target on shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management from $44.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Finally, TD Securities raised their price target on shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management from $35.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $39.10.

Artisan Partners Asset Management Price Performance

Shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management stock traded down $1.10 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $45.25. 677,316 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 507,718. The stock has a market cap of $3.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.50 and a beta of 1.70. 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 firm's fifty day moving average price is $43.40 and its 200-day moving average price is $41.58. Artisan Partners Asset Management Inc. has a 12 month low of $32.75 and a 12 month high of $49.54.

Artisan Partners Asset Management (NYSE:APAM - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The asset manager reported $0.83 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.76 by $0.07. Artisan Partners Asset Management had a net margin of 23.24% and a return on equity of 73.48%. The business had revenue of $277.10 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $281.15 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.76 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side 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 business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 30th. Investors of record on Friday, May 16th were given a dividend of $0.68 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 16th. This represents a $2.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.01%. Artisan Partners Asset Management's payout ratio is presently 75.14%.

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.