Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH Purchases New Position in Artisan Partners Asset Management Inc. (NYSE:APAM)

Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH acquired a new stake in Artisan Partners Asset Management Inc. (NYSE:APAM - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 52,297 shares of the asset manager's stock, valued at approximately $2,045,000. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH owned approximately 0.07% of Artisan Partners Asset Management at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Bank of Montreal Can lifted its holdings in shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management by 40.2% during the 4th quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 15,646 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $674,000 after buying an additional 4,485 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management by 12.9% in the 1st quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 57,100 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $2,234,000 after purchasing an additional 6,508 shares in the last quarter. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. purchased a new stake in shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management in the 1st quarter worth $275,000. Drake & Associates LLC increased its stake in shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management by 31.0% in the 1st quarter. Drake & Associates LLC now owns 40,174 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $1,571,000 after purchasing an additional 9,518 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Squarepoint Ops LLC increased its stake in shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management by 80.2% in the 4th quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 19,397 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $835,000 after purchasing an additional 8,633 shares in the last quarter. 86.45% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Evercore ISI reduced their price objective on Artisan Partners Asset Management from $33.00 to $32.00 and set an "in-line" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Cowen reiterated a "hold" rating on shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price target on Artisan Partners Asset Management from $50.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday. TD Cowen cut their price target 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. Finally, TD Securities increased their price target on Artisan Partners Asset Management from $35.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Artisan Partners Asset Management presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $39.30.

Artisan Partners Asset Management Price Performance

Shares of APAM traded down $0.46 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $44.79. 566,937 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 582,124. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a current ratio of 0.70. The company has a market cap of $3.61 billion, a PE ratio of 11.91 and a beta of 1.69. Artisan Partners Asset Management Inc. has a 52-week low of $32.75 and a 52-week high of $49.54. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $44.04 and a two-hundred day moving average of $41.88.

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

Artisan Partners Asset Management Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.73 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 15th. 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 yield of 6.5%. Artisan Partners Asset Management's payout ratio is presently 77.66%.

Insider Activity at Artisan Partners Asset Management

In related news, CFO Charles J. Daley, Jr. sold 15,448 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.45, for a total transaction of $624,871.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 91,363 shares in the company, valued at $3,695,633.35. The trade was a 14.46% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Samuel Bentson Sellers sold 6,801 shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.24, for a total transaction of $300,876.24. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 40,529 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,793,002.96. The trade was a 14.37% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 12.53% of the company's stock.

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.