Artisan Partners Asset Management Inc. (NYSE:APAM) Shares Sold by Federated Hermes Inc.

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. decreased its holdings in shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management Inc. (NYSE:APAM - Free Report) by 36.7% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the 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 approximately 0.54% of Artisan Partners Asset Management worth $16,801,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of APAM. Bessemer Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management by 208.6% in the fourth 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 last quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in Artisan Partners Asset Management in the 1st quarter worth approximately $63,000. CWM LLC grew its stake in shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management by 77.0% during the 1st quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,126 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $83,000 after purchasing an additional 925 shares during the period. NBC Securities Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management by 118,700.0% during the 1st quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 2,376 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $92,000 after purchasing an additional 2,374 shares in the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV increased its holdings in shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management by 36.2% during the 1st quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 3,996 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $156,000 after purchasing an additional 1,062 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.45% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. TD Cowen cut their target price on shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management from $46.00 to $35.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management from $50.00 to $51.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 20th. TD Securities upped their target price 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, Cowen reaffirmed a "hold" rating on shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. 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 company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $39.30.

Artisan Partners Asset Management Price Performance

Shares of APAM traded up $1.69 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $46.53. 413,869 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 610,471. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $44.04 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $41.87. 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 debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a current ratio of 0.70. The company has a market cap of $3.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.37 and a beta of 1.69.

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

Artisan Partners Asset Management Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 15th will be issued a $0.73 dividend. This represents a $2.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.3%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 15th. This is an increase from Artisan Partners Asset Management's previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. Artisan Partners Asset Management's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 72.34%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Artisan Partners Asset Management

In other Artisan Partners Asset Management news, CFO Charles J. Daley, Jr. sold 15,448 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.45, for a total value of $624,871.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 91,363 shares in the company, valued at $3,695,633.35. This represents a 14.46% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available 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 shares were sold at an average price of $44.24, for a total value 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 12.53% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.