Short Interest in Artisan Partners Asset Management Inc. (NYSE:APAM) Drops By 19.9%

Key Points

• Short interest fell by 19.9% in April to 4,579,798 shares, equal to about 6.5% of the stock and a days-to-cover ratio of 5.4.
• Artisan declared a quarterly dividend of $0.77 (annualized $3.08) implying an 8.2% yield, but with a high payout ratio of 100.75% and an ex-dividend date of May 15.
• Analyst sentiment has cooled to a consensus "Reduce" with a target of $39.20 after several downgrades, and the firm recently missed EPS estimates ($0.87 vs. $0.91) with revenue slightly below expectations.

Artisan Partners Asset Management Inc. (NYSE:APAM - Get Free Report) was the target of a large decrease in short interest in the month of April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totaling 4,579,798 shares, a decrease of 19.9% from the March 31st total of 5,715,559 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 853,556 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 5.4 days. Approximately 6.5% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in APAM. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Artisan Partners Asset Management by 0.7% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,714,737 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $334,820,000 after buying an additional 52,644 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Artisan Partners Asset Management by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,048,225 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $124,185,000 after buying an additional 54,667 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its position in Artisan Partners Asset Management by 0.4% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,769,107 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $122,755,000 after buying an additional 12,356 shares during the last quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. lifted its position in Artisan Partners Asset Management by 12.6% in the first quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 2,587,946 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $94,175,000 after buying an additional 289,105 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted its position in Artisan Partners Asset Management by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 2,022,630 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $82,402,000 after buying an additional 30,515 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.45% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

APAM has been the subject of several research reports. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their price objective on shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management from $48.00 to $43.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a report on Friday, March 20th. Evercore set a $37.00 price objective on shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management in a report on Friday, April 10th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management from $39.00 to $34.00 and set a "sell" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Artisan Partners Asset Management presently has an average rating of "Reduce" and a consensus target price of $39.20.

Artisan Partners Asset Management Price Performance

Shares of NYSE APAM traded up $0.73 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $37.36. 1,051,748 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 740,304. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 0.73 and a quick ratio of 0.91. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.01 billion, a PE ratio of 9.46 and a beta of 1.76. Artisan Partners Asset Management has a one year low of $34.99 and a one year high of $48.50. The company's 50 day moving average is $37.41 and its 200 day moving average is $41.03.

Artisan Partners Asset Management (NYSE:APAM - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The asset manager reported $0.87 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.91 by ($0.04). Artisan Partners Asset Management had a net margin of 23.49% and a return on equity of 72.99%. The firm had revenue of $303.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $306.05 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.83 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 9.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Artisan Partners Asset Management will post 3.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Artisan Partners Asset Management Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 29th. Investors of record on Friday, May 15th will be issued a $0.77 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 15th. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 8.2%. Artisan Partners Asset Management's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 100.75%.

About Artisan Partners Asset Management

Artisan Partners Asset Management Inc is a global investment management firm that specializes in active, fundamental research-driven strategies across a range of equity, fixed income and alternative asset classes. Founded in 1994 by Andrew Ziegler, the company has built a reputation for its team-based approach to portfolio construction, emphasizing deep sector expertise and independent analysis. Its product lineup includes U.S. and international equity strategies, global emerging markets, as well as credit and multisector fixed income offerings.

Artisan Partners serves a diverse client base that spans institutional investors, intermediaries and high-net-worth individuals located in North America, Europe and Asia.

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