Principal Financial Group Inc. Boosts Holdings in Artisan Partners Asset Management Inc. (NYSE:APAM)

Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management Inc. (NYSE:APAM - Free Report) by 2.3% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 349,308 shares of the asset manager's stock after acquiring an additional 7,972 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 0.44% of Artisan Partners Asset Management worth $13,658,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in APAM. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management during the fourth quarter worth approximately $20,607,000. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. raised its stake in shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management by 24.0% during the first quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 1,970,796 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $77,057,000 after acquiring an additional 381,210 shares in the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. raised its stake 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 worth $9,924,000 after acquiring an additional 253,438 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC grew 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 purchasing an additional 217,552 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC grew its holdings in shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management by 3,041.5% in the fourth quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 150,730 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $6,495,000 after purchasing an additional 145,932 shares during the last quarter. 86.45% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Artisan Partners Asset Management Stock Performance

NYSE:APAM opened at $46.86 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $3.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.94 and a beta of 1.70. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $42.80 and its 200 day simple moving average is $41.49. Artisan Partners Asset Management Inc. has a twelve month low of $32.75 and a twelve month high of $49.54. The company has a quick ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51.

Artisan Partners Asset Management (NYSE:APAM - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The asset manager reported $0.83 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.76 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $277.10 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $281.15 million. Artisan Partners Asset Management had a net margin of 23.24% and a return on equity of 73.48%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.76 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Artisan Partners Asset Management Inc. will post 3.6 EPS for the current year.

Artisan Partners Asset Management Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 16th were given a dividend of $0.68 per share. This represents a $2.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.80%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 16th. Artisan Partners Asset Management's dividend payout ratio is currently 75.14%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on APAM. 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 Cowen cut their target price on shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management from $46.00 to $35.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their target price on shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management from $44.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday. Evercore ISI cut their target price on shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management from $33.00 to $32.00 and set an "in-line" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, TD Securities raised 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Artisan Partners Asset Management currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $39.10.

Insider Buying and Selling at Artisan Partners Asset Management

In other Artisan Partners Asset Management news, EVP Samuel Bentson Sellers sold 6,801 shares of the firm'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 transaction, the executive vice president owned 40,529 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,793,002.96. This trade represents a 14.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Charles J. Daley, Jr. sold 15,448 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.45, for a total value of $624,871.60. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 91,363 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,695,633.35. This represents a 14.46% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 12.53% of the company's stock.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.