Vestcor Inc Sells 20,129 Shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management Inc. (NYSE:APAM)

Key Points

• Vestcor Inc has reduced its holdings in Artisan Partners Asset Management by 52.8%, selling 20,129 shares, leaving it with 18,001 shares valued at approximately $704,000.
• Artisan Partners recently increased its quarterly dividend to $0.73 per share, marking a rise from the previous dividend of $0.68, resulting in a dividend yield of 6.5%.
• Wall Street analysts have mixed ratings on Artisan Partners, with the consensus rating categorized as a "Hold" and a price target of $39.30.

Vestcor Inc decreased its position in Artisan Partners Asset Management Inc. (NYSE:APAM - Free Report) by 52.8% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 18,001 shares of the asset manager's stock after selling 20,129 shares during the quarter. Vestcor Inc's holdings in Artisan Partners Asset Management were worth $704,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC grew its position in shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management by 7.5% during the 4th quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 8,911 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $384,000 after buying an additional 618 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management during the fourth quarter valued at $5,627,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its holdings in shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management by 764.3% during the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 54,336 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $2,339,000 after acquiring an additional 48,049 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management by 6.7% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 51,004 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $2,196,000 after acquiring an additional 3,205 shares during the period. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI boosted its holdings in shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management by 16.0% during the fourth quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 8,590 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $370,000 after acquiring an additional 1,187 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.45% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

APAM has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Cowen restated a "hold" rating on shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. TD Securities upped their price target on shares of 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. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price target on shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management from $50.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. TD Cowen dropped their price target on shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management from $46.00 to $35.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $39.30.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Charles J. Daley, Jr. sold 15,448 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 4th. The shares were 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 directly owned 91,363 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,695,633.35. This trade represents a 14.46% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Samuel Bentson Sellers sold 6,801 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.24, for a total transaction of $300,876.24. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 40,529 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,793,002.96. This represents 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 Stock Performance

Artisan Partners Asset Management stock traded down $1.07 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $45.19. The company had a trading volume of 241,702 shares, compared to its average volume of 583,894. The company has a quick ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. Artisan Partners Asset Management Inc. has a 52 week low of $32.75 and a 52 week high of $49.54. The company has a 50 day moving average of $44.38 and a 200-day moving average of $41.96. The firm has a market cap of $3.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.01 and a beta of 1.69.

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 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.82 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $282.80 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $269.00 million. Artisan Partners Asset Management had a return on equity of 71.72% and a net margin of 23.87%. The business's revenue was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.82 earnings per share. On average, sell-side 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 15th will be paid a $0.73 dividend. 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.5%. Artisan Partners Asset Management's payout ratio is presently 72.34%.

About Artisan Partners Asset Management

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.