Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Buys New Position in Artisan Partners Asset Management Inc. $APAM

Key Points

• Louisiana State Employees Retirement System initiated a new position in Artisan Partners Asset Management, buying 31,200 shares worth about $1.135 million in the first quarter.
• Institutional ownership remains heavy, with funds like Charles Schwab, State Street, and Vaughan Nelson also adjusting stakes; overall, institutions own 86.45% of the company.
• Analyst sentiment is mixed but cautious: APAM has a Hold consensus rating and a consensus price target of $39.75, while the stock recently traded at $35.43 and the company also pays a high dividend yield of 8.7%.

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System bought a new stake in shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management Inc. (NYSE:APAM - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 31,200 shares of the asset manager's stock, valued at approximately $1,135,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,048,225 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $124,185,000 after purchasing an additional 54,667 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management by 0.4% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,769,107 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $122,755,000 after buying an additional 12,356 shares during the period. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. raised its stake in Artisan Partners Asset Management by 12.6% during the first quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 2,587,946 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $94,175,000 after buying an additional 289,105 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley raised its stake in Artisan Partners Asset Management by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 2,022,630 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $82,402,000 after buying an additional 30,515 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Channing Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Artisan Partners Asset Management by 14.6% in the fourth quarter. Channing Capital Management LLC now owns 1,967,732 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $80,165,000 after buying an additional 250,475 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 86.45% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have commented on APAM. Royal Bank Of Canada cut their price target on shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management from $48.00 to $43.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Zacks Research raised Artisan Partners Asset Management from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 20th. Evercore set a $39.00 price objective on Artisan Partners Asset Management in a research note on Monday, June 8th. TD Cowen restated a "hold" rating on shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on Artisan Partners Asset Management from $39.00 to $34.00 and set a "sell" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Artisan Partners Asset Management currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $39.75.

Artisan Partners Asset Management Stock Up 0.0%

Shares of NYSE APAM opened at $35.43 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44. The firm has a market cap of $2.85 billion, a PE ratio of 8.97 and a beta of 1.68. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $36.56 and its 200 day simple moving average is $39.04. Artisan Partners Asset Management Inc. has a 12-month low of $33.96 and a 12-month high of $48.50.

Artisan Partners Asset Management (NYSE:APAM - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The asset manager reported $0.87 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.91 by ($0.04). Artisan Partners Asset Management had a net margin of 23.49% and a return on equity of 72.99%. The company had revenue of $303.01 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $304.01 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.83 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 9.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Artisan Partners Asset Management Inc. will post 3.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Artisan Partners Asset Management Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 29th. Investors of record on Friday, May 15th were given a $0.77 dividend. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 15th. Artisan Partners Asset Management's payout ratio is presently 77.97%.

About Artisan Partners Asset Management

Artisan Partners Asset Management Inc is a global investment management firm that specializes in active, fundamental research-driven strategies across a range of equity, fixed income and alternative asset classes. Founded in 1994 by Andrew Ziegler, the company has built a reputation for its team-based approach to portfolio construction, emphasizing deep sector expertise and independent analysis. Its product lineup includes U.S. and international equity strategies, global emerging markets, as well as credit and multisector fixed income offerings.

Artisan Partners serves a diverse client base that spans institutional investors, intermediaries and high-net-worth individuals located in North America, Europe and Asia.

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