Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC Sells 137,442 Shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management Inc. (NYSE:APAM)

Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC decreased its holdings in Artisan Partners Asset Management Inc. (NYSE:APAM - Free Report) by 2.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 6,561,601 shares of the asset manager's stock after selling 137,442 shares during the period. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC owned approximately 8.17% of Artisan Partners Asset Management worth $282,477,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of APAM. Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in Artisan Partners Asset Management by 82.7% in the fourth quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 581 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 263 shares in the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. raised its stake in Artisan Partners Asset Management by 208.6% during the fourth quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 574 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 388 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in Artisan Partners Asset Management by 110.7% during the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 628 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 330 shares in the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Artisan Partners Asset Management by 166.8% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,027 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $44,000 after acquiring an additional 642 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in Artisan Partners Asset Management during the fourth quarter worth about $57,000. Institutional investors own 86.45% of the company's stock.

Artisan Partners Asset Management Trading Down 1.0%

Shares of APAM stock traded down $0.41 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $40.83. 676,100 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 491,671. The stock has a market cap of $3.28 billion, a PE ratio of 11.22 and a beta of 1.68. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $38.77 and its 200 day simple moving average is $42.36. The company has a quick ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 0.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. 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 quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The asset manager reported $0.83 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.76 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $277.10 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $281.15 million. Artisan Partners Asset Management had a return on equity of 74.02% and a net margin of 23.36%. Artisan Partners Asset Management's quarterly revenue was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.76 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Artisan Partners Asset Management Inc. will post 3.6 EPS for the current year.

Artisan Partners Asset Management Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 30th. Investors of record on Friday, May 16th will be given a dividend of $0.68 per share. This represents a $2.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.66%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 16th. Artisan Partners Asset Management's dividend payout ratio is currently 75.14%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

APAM has been the subject of several research analyst reports. TD Cowen lowered 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. TD Securities increased their price target on Artisan Partners Asset Management from $35.00 to $39.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Cowen reissued a "hold" rating on shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management in a 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 increased their target price on Artisan Partners Asset Management from $43.00 to $44.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Artisan Partners Asset Management presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $37.90.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Samuel Bentson Sellers sold 6,801 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 15th. The shares were 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 now directly owns 40,529 shares in the company, valued at $1,793,002.96. This represents a 14.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 12.53% of the stock is owned by corporate 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.