SBI Securities Co. Ltd. Takes Position in Artisan Partners Asset Management Inc. (NYSE:APAM)

SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management Inc. (NYSE:APAM) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 1,321 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $57,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management by 166.8% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,027 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $44,000 after purchasing an additional 642 shares during the period. R Squared Ltd purchased a new stake in Artisan Partners Asset Management during the fourth quarter worth about $62,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in Artisan Partners Asset Management by 31.0% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,478 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $64,000 after acquiring an additional 350 shares during the period. MCF Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Artisan Partners Asset Management by 70.9% in the fourth quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 1,538 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $66,000 after acquiring an additional 638 shares during the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV grew its position in shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management by 22.9% during the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,218 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $96,000 after acquiring an additional 413 shares during the period. 86.45% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently commented on APAM. StockNews.com cut shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on Artisan Partners Asset Management from $53.00 to $51.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $44.38.

Artisan Partners Asset Management Stock Down 1.6 %

APAM opened at $42.40 on Tuesday. Artisan Partners Asset Management Inc. has a 12 month low of $37.89 and a 12 month high of $49.54. The company has a market cap of $3.41 billion, a PE ratio of 11.65 and a beta of 1.83. The company has a current ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. The company has a 50 day moving average of $43.13 and a 200 day moving average of $44.02.

Artisan Partners Asset Management (NYSE:APAM) last posted 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 return on equity of 74.02% and a net margin of 23.36%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Artisan Partners Asset Management Inc. will post 3.6 EPS for the current year.

Artisan Partners Asset Management Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.72%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. Artisan Partners Asset Management’s payout ratio is presently 92.31%.

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.