Epoch Investment Partners Inc. Lowers Stock Holdings in Artisan Partners Asset Management Inc. $APAM

Key Points

• Epoch Investment Partners Inc. reduced its holdings in Artisan Partners Asset Management by 48.3%, now owning 37,697 shares worth approximately $1.47 million.
• Artisan Partners declared a quarterly dividend of $0.73 per share, marking an increase from the previous $0.68, representing an annualized yield of 6.2%.
• Analysts have mixed ratings on Artisan Partners, with one holding a Buy rating, four Hold ratings, and an average price target of $39.30.

Epoch Investment Partners Inc. decreased its holdings in Artisan Partners Asset Management Inc. (NYSE:APAM - Free Report) by 48.3% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 37,697 shares of the asset manager's stock after selling 35,207 shares during the period. Epoch Investment Partners Inc.'s holdings in Artisan Partners Asset Management were worth $1,474,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of APAM. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its stake 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 worth $2,234,000 after purchasing an additional 6,508 shares during the period. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. bought a new position in shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management during the first quarter worth approximately $275,000. Drake & Associates LLC grew its position in 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 worth $1,571,000 after buying an additional 9,518 shares in the last quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC grew its position in 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 worth $835,000 after buying an additional 8,633 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Twelve Points Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Artisan Partners Asset Management by 7.6% during the first quarter. Twelve Points Wealth Management LLC now owns 77,190 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $3,018,000 after buying an additional 5,478 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.45% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Cowen reissued a "hold" rating on shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Wall Street Zen raised Artisan Partners Asset Management from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 20th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada raised their target price on Artisan Partners Asset Management from $50.00 to $51.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $39.30.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Artisan Partners Asset Management news, CFO Charles J. Daley, Jr. sold 15,448 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.45, for a total transaction of $624,871.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 12.53% of the company's stock.

Artisan Partners Asset Management Price Performance

Shares of APAM traded down $0.35 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $46.81. The stock had a trading volume of 289,858 shares, compared to its average volume of 473,559. Artisan Partners Asset Management Inc. has a 12 month low of $32.75 and a 12 month high of $49.54. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.78 billion, a PE ratio of 12.45 and a beta of 1.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 0.97. The company's 50-day moving average is $46.10 and its two-hundred day moving average is $42.20.

Artisan Partners Asset Management (NYSE:APAM - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The asset manager reported $0.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.82 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $282.80 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $269.00 million. Artisan Partners Asset Management had a return on equity of 71.72% and a net margin of 23.87%.Artisan Partners Asset Management's revenue for the quarter was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.82 EPS. Research analysts expect that Artisan Partners Asset Management Inc. will post 3.6 EPS for the current year.

Artisan Partners Asset Management Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 15th were issued a dividend of $0.73 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 15th. This represents a $2.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.2%. This is an increase from Artisan Partners Asset Management's previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. Artisan Partners Asset Management's dividend payout ratio is presently 77.66%.

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.