Raymond James Financial Inc. Invests $20.61 Million in Artisan Partners Asset Management Inc. (NYSE:APAM)

Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management Inc. (NYSE:APAM - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 478,685 shares of the asset manager's stock, valued at approximately $20,607,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. owned approximately 0.60% of Artisan Partners Asset Management as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in APAM. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Artisan Partners Asset Management by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 8,097,132 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $348,582,000 after acquiring an additional 78,979 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in Artisan Partners Asset Management by 4.9% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,772,632 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $119,362,000 after buying an additional 128,717 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,813,598 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $78,092,000 after acquiring an additional 38,284 shares during the period. Channing Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management by 14.5% during the fourth quarter. Channing Capital Management LLC now owns 1,770,526 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $76,221,000 after acquiring an additional 224,455 shares during the period. Finally, Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. raised its holdings in Artisan Partners Asset Management by 3.7% during the fourth quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 1,589,586 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $68,432,000 after purchasing an additional 56,190 shares in the last quarter. 86.45% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the company. TD Cowen dropped their target price 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. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective on shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management from $53.00 to $51.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Evercore ISI reduced their price target on shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management from $40.00 to $33.00 and set an "in-line" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Artisan Partners Asset Management from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $39.63.

Artisan Partners Asset Management Price Performance

Artisan Partners Asset Management stock traded down $0.13 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $37.04. 66,298 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 460,729. 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 12-month low of $32.75 and a 12-month high of $49.54. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $39.15 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $43.02. The company has a market capitalization of $2.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.15 and a beta of 1.80.

Artisan Partners Asset Management (NYSE:APAM - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The asset manager reported $1.05 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.97 by $0.08. Artisan Partners Asset Management had a net margin of 23.36% and a return on equity of 74.02%. Analysts forecast that Artisan Partners Asset Management Inc. will post 3.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Artisan Partners Asset Management Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.40%. Artisan Partners Asset Management's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 92.31%.

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.