Artisan Partners Asset Management (NYSE:APAM) Reaches New 1-Year High at $45.94

Artisan Partners Asset Management Inc. (NYSE:APAM)’s stock price hit a new 52-week high on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $45.94 and last traded at $45.68, with a volume of 83159 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $45.56.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have commented on APAM. StockNews.com raised Artisan Partners Asset Management from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday, March 17th. TD Cowen started coverage on shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management in a research note on Thursday, January 4th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $41.00 price target on the stock.

Artisan Partners Asset Management Stock Performance

The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $42.94 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $40.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 0.64 and a quick ratio of 0.64. The company has a market cap of $3.66 billion, a PE ratio of 14.42 and a beta of 1.85.

Artisan Partners Asset Management (NYSE:APAM) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 31st. The asset manager reported $0.78 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.78. Artisan Partners Asset Management had a net margin of 22.80% and a return on equity of 73.85%. The company had revenue of $249.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $249.90 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.65 EPS. Artisan Partners Asset Management’s revenue was up 10.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Artisan Partners Asset Management Inc. will post 3.31 earnings per share for the current year.

Artisan Partners Asset Management Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a None dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 29th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 15th were paid a $1.02 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 14th. This represents a dividend yield of 5.5%. This is a positive change from Artisan Partners Asset Management’s previous None dividend of $0.65. Artisan Partners Asset Management’s dividend payout ratio is presently 86.08%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Artisan Partners Asset Management

In other news, EVP Gregory K. Ramirez sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.28, for a total transaction of $105,700.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 83,335 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,523,403.80. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 18.50% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Artisan Partners Asset Management

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in APAM. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position 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 worth $347,856,000 after purchasing an additional 75,304 shares in the last quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management by 5.9% in the first quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 6,876,994 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $219,926,000 after purchasing an additional 382,572 shares during the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. lifted its position in Artisan Partners Asset Management by 25.0% during the second quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 6,239,056 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $245,257,000 after buying an additional 1,248,940 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its stake in Artisan Partners Asset Management by 71.5% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,431,994 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $95,602,000 after buying an additional 1,013,773 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management by 666.1% during the 2nd quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 2,344,717 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $92,171,000 after acquiring an additional 2,038,663 shares during the last quarter. 86.45% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.