Federated Hermes Inc. Sells 249,569 Shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management Inc. (NYSE:APAM)

Key Points

• Federated Hermes Inc. has reduced its stake in Artisan Partners Asset Management by 36.7%, selling 249,569 shares and now holding 429,688 shares valued at approximately $16.8 million.
• Artisan Partners announced an increase in its quarterly dividend from $0.68 to $0.73 per share, yielding 6.5%, with the next payment scheduled for August 29th.
• Analysts' price targets for Artisan Partners vary, with Royal Bank of Canada raising its target to $51.00, while Evercore ISI lowered its target to $32.00, indicating differing outlooks on the stock's performance.

Federated Hermes Inc. cut its holdings in shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management Inc. (NYSE:APAM - Free Report) by 36.7% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 429,688 shares of the asset manager's stock after selling 249,569 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc. owned about 0.54% of Artisan Partners Asset Management worth $16,801,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC boosted its stake in shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management by 7.5% in the 4th quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 8,911 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $384,000 after purchasing an additional 618 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 8,097,132 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $348,582,000 after buying an additional 78,979 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management during the 4th quarter valued at $5,627,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its holdings in shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management by 764.3% during the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 54,336 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $2,339,000 after acquiring an additional 48,049 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in Artisan Partners Asset Management by 6.7% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 51,004 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $2,196,000 after acquiring an additional 3,205 shares during the last quarter. 86.45% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Artisan Partners Asset Management news, CFO Charles J. Daley, Jr. sold 15,448 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 91,363 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,695,633.35. This trade represents a 14.46% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Samuel Bentson Sellers sold 6,801 shares of the company's stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, 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.

Artisan Partners Asset Management Stock Down 1.0%

NYSE APAM traded down $0.45 on Wednesday, hitting $46.27. 293,046 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 584,509. Artisan Partners Asset Management Inc. has a 12 month low of $32.75 and a 12 month high of $49.54. The company has a current ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. The company has a market cap of $3.73 billion, a PE ratio of 12.30 and a beta of 1.69. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $44.27 and a 200-day moving average of $41.93.

Artisan Partners Asset Management (NYSE:APAM - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly 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. Artisan Partners Asset Management had a return on equity of 71.72% and a net margin of 23.87%. The business had revenue of $282.80 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $269.00 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.82 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Artisan Partners Asset Management Inc. will post 3.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Artisan Partners Asset Management Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 15th will be given a dividend of $0.73 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 15th. This is a boost from Artisan Partners Asset Management's previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. This represents a $2.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.3%. Artisan Partners Asset Management's payout ratio is presently 72.34%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have commented on APAM shares. 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 report on Wednesday, April 9th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 20th. TD Securities boosted their target price on shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management from $35.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Cowen reiterated a "hold" rating on shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price target on Artisan Partners Asset Management from $50.00 to $51.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $39.30.

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.