Optimist Retirement Group LLC Makes New Investment in Artisan Partners Asset Management Inc. (NYSE:APAM)

Optimist Retirement Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management Inc. (NYSE:APAM) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 10,026 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $414,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,873,612 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $347,856,000 after acquiring an additional 75,304 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management by 4.8% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,617,617 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $66,757,000 after purchasing an additional 74,393 shares during the period. Wasatch Advisors LP grew its position in shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management by 25.2% during the 4th quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 1,581,267 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $69,860,000 after acquiring an additional 318,355 shares during the period. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. increased its position in shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management by 7.7% in the second quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 1,434,391 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $59,197,000 after buying an additional 102,421 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management by 1.7% in the second quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 920,012 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $37,969,000 after purchasing an additional 15,446 shares during the period. 86.45% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Artisan Partners Asset Management Price Performance

Shares of APAM opened at $42.17 on Thursday. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $41.18 and its two-hundred day moving average is $42.44. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.39 billion, a PE ratio of 12.86 and a beta of 1.79. The company has a current ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. Artisan Partners Asset Management Inc. has a twelve month low of $32.12 and a twelve month high of $46.75.

Artisan Partners Asset Management (NYSE:APAM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 23rd. The asset manager reported $0.82 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.87 by ($0.05). Artisan Partners Asset Management had a net margin of 22.75% and a return on equity of 71.76%. The business had revenue of $270.80 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $274.70 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.71 earnings per share. Artisan Partners Asset Management’s revenue was up 11.5% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Artisan Partners Asset Management Inc. will post 3.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Artisan Partners Asset Management Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 16th were paid a dividend of $0.71 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 16th. This is a boost from Artisan Partners Asset Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.61. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.73%. Artisan Partners Asset Management’s payout ratio is currently 86.59%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on APAM shares. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $50.00 target price on shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management in a research report on Monday, July 29th. TD Cowen raised their target price on Artisan Partners Asset Management from $38.00 to $39.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Artisan Partners Asset Management from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th.

Artisan Partners Asset Management Company 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.