Artisan Partners Asset Management Inc. (NYSE:APAM) Shares Bought by Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV

Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV raised its holdings in Artisan Partners Asset Management Inc. (NYSE:APAM - Free Report) by 14.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 89,140 shares of the asset manager's stock after buying an additional 11,096 shares during the quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV owned approximately 0.11% of Artisan Partners Asset Management worth $3,837,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Bessemer Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management by 208.6% in the 4th quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 574 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 388 shares in the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management by 82.7% in the 4th quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 581 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 263 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management by 110.7% in the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 628 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 330 shares in the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management by 166.8% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,027 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 642 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management in the 4th quarter valued at about $57,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.45% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. TD Securities lifted their price objective on Artisan Partners Asset Management from $35.00 to $39.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on Artisan Partners Asset Management from $43.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Evercore ISI reduced their price target on Artisan Partners Asset Management from $33.00 to $32.00 and set an "in-line" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. TD Cowen reduced their price target on 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, StockNews.com lowered Artisan Partners Asset Management from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Artisan Partners Asset Management has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $37.90.

Artisan Partners Asset Management Stock Down 0.8%

Artisan Partners Asset Management stock traded down $0.34 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $40.79. 366,927 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 478,889. The company's fifty day moving average price is $38.37 and its 200-day moving average price is $42.60. The company has a market cap of $3.27 billion, a PE ratio of 11.21 and a beta of 1.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 0.56 and a quick ratio of 0.73. Artisan Partners Asset Management Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $32.75 and a fifty-two week high of $49.54.

Artisan Partners Asset Management (NYSE:APAM - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The asset manager reported $0.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.76 by $0.07. Artisan Partners Asset Management had a return on equity of 74.02% and a net margin of 23.36%. The company had revenue of $277.10 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $281.15 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.76 EPS. Artisan Partners Asset Management's quarterly revenue was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that Artisan Partners Asset Management Inc. will post 3.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Artisan Partners Asset Management Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be given a $0.68 dividend. This represents a $2.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.67%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 16th. Artisan Partners Asset Management's payout ratio is 75.14%.

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.