Kestra Investment Management LLC Raises Stock Holdings in Artisan Partners Asset Management Inc. $APAM

Key Points

• Kestra Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Artisan Partners Asset Management by 32.8%, owning approximately 63,878 shares valued at about $2.5 million.
• Artisan Partners reported earnings per share (EPS) of $0.83 for the latest quarter, exceeding estimates and showing a 4.4% growth in revenue year-over-year.
• The firm recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.73 per share, representing a 6.3% annual yield, up from the previous dividend of $0.68.

Kestra Investment Management LLC lifted its position in Artisan Partners Asset Management Inc. (NYSE:APAM - Free Report) by 32.8% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 63,878 shares of the asset manager's stock after purchasing an additional 15,792 shares during the period. Kestra Investment Management LLC owned about 0.08% of Artisan Partners Asset Management worth $2,498,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of APAM. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in Artisan Partners Asset Management during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $17,671,000. Punch & Associates Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Artisan Partners Asset Management by 3,362.7% during the 1st quarter. Punch & Associates Investment Management Inc. now owns 437,067 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $17,089,000 after buying an additional 424,445 shares in the last quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. grew its holdings in Artisan Partners Asset Management by 24.0% during the 1st quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 1,970,796 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $77,057,000 after buying an additional 381,210 shares in the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management by 67,047.1% during the first quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 253,816 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $9,924,000 after buying an additional 253,438 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Millennium Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management by 98.2% in the fourth quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 439,057 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $18,901,000 after buying an additional 217,552 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.45% of the company's stock.

Artisan Partners Asset Management Trading Down 0.0%

APAM stock traded down $0.02 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $46.47. 541,703 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 375,824. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.81 and a beta of 1.71. Artisan Partners Asset Management Inc. has a 52-week low of $32.75 and a 52-week high of $49.54. The business has a 50 day moving average of $46.43 and a 200-day moving average of $42.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 0.97.

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 for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $282.80 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $269.00 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.82 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Artisan Partners Asset Management Inc. will post 3.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Artisan Partners Asset Management Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 15th were paid a $0.73 dividend. This is an increase 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%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 15th. Artisan Partners Asset Management's payout ratio is currently 77.66%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Cowen reaffirmed a "hold" rating on shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price objective 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. Wall Street Zen upgraded Artisan Partners Asset Management from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 20th. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their price target on Artisan Partners Asset Management from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a research note on Friday, September 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Artisan Partners Asset Management currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $41.90.

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.