Raymond James Financial Inc. Sells 42,451 Shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management Inc. $APAM

Key Points

• Raymond James Financial Inc. has reduced its stake in Artisan Partners Asset Management by 8.9%, now owning approximately 0.54% of the company, valued at about $17 million.
• Artisan Partners recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.73 per share, representing an annualized yield of 6.2%, an increase from the previous dividend of $0.68.
• In its last earnings report, Artisan Partners posted an EPS of $0.83, surpassing expectations and marking a 4.4% increase in revenue year-over-year.

Raymond James Financial Inc. reduced its position in Artisan Partners Asset Management Inc. (NYSE:APAM - Free Report) by 8.9% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 436,234 shares of the asset manager's stock after selling 42,451 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. owned about 0.54% of Artisan Partners Asset Management worth $17,057,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Napatree Capital LLC raised its holdings in Artisan Partners Asset Management by 1.8% in the 1st quarter. Napatree Capital LLC now owns 16,843 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $659,000 after acquiring an additional 301 shares during the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp raised its holdings in Artisan Partners Asset Management by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 120,023 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $5,167,000 after acquiring an additional 319 shares during the last quarter. Isthmus Partners LLC raised its holdings in Artisan Partners Asset Management by 0.7% in the 1st quarter. Isthmus Partners LLC now owns 69,534 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $2,719,000 after acquiring an additional 497 shares during the last quarter. RDA Financial Network raised its holdings in Artisan Partners Asset Management by 5.9% in the 1st quarter. RDA Financial Network now owns 9,129 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $357,000 after acquiring an additional 510 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers raised its holdings in Artisan Partners Asset Management by 3.1% in the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 18,216 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $712,000 after acquiring an additional 541 shares during the last quarter. 86.45% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Artisan Partners Asset Management

In other Artisan Partners Asset Management news, CFO Charles J. Daley, Jr. sold 15,448 shares of the 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 owned 91,363 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,695,633.35. This represents a 14.46% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 12.53% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Artisan Partners Asset Management Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:APAM traded down $0.35 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $46.81. The company had a trading volume of 289,858 shares, compared to its average volume of 473,559. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 0.97 and a quick ratio of 0.97. The company has a market cap of $3.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.45 and a beta of 1.69. 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 fifty day moving average of $46.10 and a two-hundred day moving average of $42.20.

Artisan Partners Asset Management (NYSE:APAM - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 29th. The asset manager reported $0.83 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.82 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $282.80 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $269.00 million. Artisan Partners Asset Management had a return on equity of 71.72% and a net margin of 23.87%.Artisan Partners Asset Management's revenue was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.82 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Artisan Partners Asset Management Inc. will post 3.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Artisan Partners Asset Management Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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 a positive change from Artisan Partners Asset Management's previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 15th. This represents a $2.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.2%. Artisan Partners Asset Management's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 77.66%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

APAM has been the subject of a number of research reports. Cowen reiterated a "hold" rating on shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted 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 research note on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Artisan Partners Asset Management currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $39.30.

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.