State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D Sells 2,107 Shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management Inc. (NYSE:APAM)

State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D cut its position in shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management Inc. (NYSE:APAM) by 4.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 45,211 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 2,107 shares during the period. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D owned 0.06% of Artisan Partners Asset Management worth $1,946,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of APAM. R Squared Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management in the fourth quarter valued at about $62,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in shares of 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 valued at $64,000 after buying an additional 350 shares during the period. MCF Advisors LLC grew its position in Artisan Partners Asset Management by 70.9% during the fourth quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 1,538 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $66,000 after buying an additional 638 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV increased its stake in 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 worth $96,000 after acquiring an additional 413 shares during the period. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. raised its holdings in Artisan Partners Asset Management by 52.7% in the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,386 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $98,000 after acquiring an additional 823 shares in the last quarter. 86.45% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Artisan Partners Asset Management Stock Down 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE APAM opened at $42.07 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 quick ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 0.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. The firm has a market cap of $3.38 billion, a PE ratio of 11.56 and a beta of 1.81. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $43.51 and its 200 day simple moving average is $43.91.

Artisan Partners Asset Management (NYSE:APAM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The asset manager reported $1.05 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Artisan Partners Asset Management Inc. will post 3.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Artisan Partners Asset Management Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th will be given a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.75%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. Artisan Partners Asset Management’s payout ratio is currently 92.31%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently commented on APAM shares. Royal Bank of Canada dropped 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 note on Monday, February 3rd. TD Cowen increased their price target on shares of 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. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their target price 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 research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average 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.