MML Investors Services LLC Reduces Holdings in Artisan Partners Asset Management Inc. (NYSE:APAM)

MML Investors Services LLC lessened its stake in shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management Inc. (NYSE:APAM) by 71.8% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 6,035 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 15,376 shares during the quarter. MML Investors Services LLC’s holdings in Artisan Partners Asset Management were worth $261,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of APAM. Wasatch Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management by 25.3% during the third quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 1,812,080 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $78,499,000 after acquiring an additional 365,434 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management during the 2nd quarter worth about $10,685,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management by 22.0% during the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,122,086 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $48,609,000 after buying an additional 202,074 shares in the last quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management by 2.5% in the second quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 6,626,937 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $273,494,000 after buying an additional 160,297 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management by 6.2% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,643,915 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $114,534,000 after buying an additional 154,536 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.45% of the company’s stock.

Artisan Partners Asset Management Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of APAM opened at $44.24 on Thursday. Artisan Partners Asset Management Inc. has a twelve month low of $37.89 and a twelve month high of $49.54. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.32 and a beta of 1.79. The company has a current ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $46.49 and its 200 day simple moving average is $43.20.

Artisan Partners Asset Management (NYSE:APAM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The asset manager reported $0.92 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by $0.02. Artisan Partners Asset Management had a return on equity of 71.50% and a net margin of 23.95%. The company had revenue of $279.60 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $279.70 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.75 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 12.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Artisan Partners Asset Management Inc. will post 3.49 earnings per share for the current year.

Artisan Partners Asset Management Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 15th were given a $0.82 dividend. This represents a $3.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.41%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 15th. Artisan Partners Asset Management’s payout ratio is currently 91.36%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have commented on the stock. StockNews.com raised shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price objective on Artisan Partners Asset Management from $40.00 to $39.50 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. TD Cowen increased their target price on Artisan Partners Asset Management from $41.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their price target on Artisan Partners Asset Management from $40.00 to $44.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Artisan Partners Asset Management presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $44.13.

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.