Artisan Partners Asset Management (NYSE:APAM) Shares Down 5% Following Weak Earnings

Shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management Inc. (NYSE:APAM - Get Free Report) traded down 5% during mid-day trading on Wednesday following a dissappointing earnings announcement. The company traded as low as $41.11 and last traded at $41.25. 77,984 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 84% from the average session volume of 474,798 shares. The stock had previously closed at $43.43.

The asset manager reported $0.76 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.79 by ($0.03). The business had revenue of $264.40 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $270.90 million. Artisan Partners Asset Management had a return on equity of 73.85% and a net margin of 22.80%. The business's revenue was up 12.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.64 earnings per share.

Artisan Partners Asset Management Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a None dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 29th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 15th were paid a $1.02 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 14th. This is an increase from Artisan Partners Asset Management's previous None dividend of $0.65. This represents a dividend yield of 5.5%. Artisan Partners Asset Management's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 86.08%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently commented on APAM. TD Cowen began coverage on Artisan Partners Asset Management in a research note on Thursday, January 4th. They issued a "market perform" rating and a $41.00 target price for the company. StockNews.com upgraded Artisan Partners Asset Management from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Sunday, March 17th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Artisan Partners Asset Management news, EVP Gregory K. Ramirez sold 2,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.28, for a total transaction of $105,700.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 83,335 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,523,403.80. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 18.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Stifel Financial Corp grew its position in Artisan Partners Asset Management by 28.1% in the third quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 177,515 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $6,643,000 after acquiring an additional 38,951 shares in the last quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. boosted its position in Artisan Partners Asset Management by 29.3% during the fourth quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 934,546 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $41,288,000 after buying an additional 211,965 shares during the period. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in Artisan Partners Asset Management during the third quarter valued at about $1,208,000. Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in Artisan Partners Asset Management by 30.3% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 361,111 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $13,513,000 after buying an additional 83,998 shares during the period. Finally, ClariVest Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in Artisan Partners Asset Management during the third quarter valued at about $879,000. 86.45% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Artisan Partners Asset Management Trading Down 2.8 %

The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $43.70 and its 200-day simple moving average is $41.00. The company has a quick ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 0.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.37 billion, a PE ratio of 13.35 and a beta of 1.85.

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.