Artisan Partners Asset Management Inc. (NYSE:APAM) Stock Holdings Cut by Blue Trust Inc.

Blue Trust Inc. lessened its position in Artisan Partners Asset Management Inc. (NYSE:APAM) by 22.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,862 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 524 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc.’s holdings in Artisan Partners Asset Management were worth $81,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Wasatch Advisors LP grew its holdings in 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 worth $78,499,000 after acquiring an additional 365,434 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management by 22.0% in the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,122,086 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $48,609,000 after purchasing an additional 202,074 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management by 6.2% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,643,915 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $114,534,000 after purchasing an additional 154,536 shares in the last quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. lifted its stake in Artisan Partners Asset Management by 6.9% during the third quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 1,533,396 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $66,426,000 after purchasing an additional 99,005 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Artisan Partners Asset Management by 4.9% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,775,314 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $76,920,000 after buying an additional 82,868 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.45% of the company’s stock.

Artisan Partners Asset Management Price Performance

APAM opened at $44.51 on Friday. Artisan Partners Asset Management Inc. has a 12-month low of $37.89 and a 12-month high of $49.54. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.40 and a beta of 1.81. The company has a quick ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $44.56 and a 200-day moving average of $43.67.

Artisan Partners Asset Management (NYSE:APAM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The asset manager reported $1.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.97 by $0.08. Artisan Partners Asset Management had a net margin of 23.95% and a return on equity of 71.50%. Equities analysts forecast that Artisan Partners Asset Management Inc. will post 3.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Artisan Partners Asset Management Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.49%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. Artisan Partners Asset Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 91.37%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have issued reports on APAM. TD Cowen upped their price target on Artisan Partners Asset Management from $41.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. StockNews.com lowered Artisan Partners Asset Management from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price target on Artisan Partners Asset Management from $53.00 to $51.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on Artisan Partners Asset Management from $40.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. One 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $44.38.

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.