Public Sector Pension Investment Board Cuts Stake in Artisan Partners Asset Management Inc. (NYSE:APAM)

Public Sector Pension Investment Board cut its holdings in shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management Inc. (NYSE:APAM) by 3.6% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 148,328 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 5,500 shares during the quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board’s holdings in Artisan Partners Asset Management were worth $6,426,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Matrix Trust Co purchased a new stake in Artisan Partners Asset Management during the 3rd quarter valued at about $30,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in Artisan Partners Asset Management by 81.5% in the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 775 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 348 shares during the last quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management by 41.8% during the third quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,004 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 296 shares during the period. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management by 735.9% in the third quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 1,212 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $52,000 after purchasing an additional 1,067 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quarry LP purchased a new position in shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management in the second quarter worth $63,000. 86.45% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Artisan Partners Asset Management Price Performance

APAM stock opened at $48.79 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 0.73 and a quick ratio of 0.73. Artisan Partners Asset Management Inc. has a 1 year low of $37.16 and a 1 year high of $49.52. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $45.24 and a 200 day moving average of $42.95. The company has a market cap of $3.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.59 and a beta of 1.79.

Artisan Partners Asset Management (NYSE:APAM) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The asset manager reported $0.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.90 by $0.02. Artisan Partners Asset Management had a return on equity of 71.50% and a net margin of 23.95%. The firm had revenue of $279.60 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $279.70 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.75 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 12.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Artisan Partners Asset Management Inc. will post 3.49 EPS for the current year.

Artisan Partners Asset Management Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 15th were issued a dividend of $0.82 per share. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.72%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 15th. Artisan Partners Asset Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 91.36%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on APAM shares. TD Cowen increased their price target on shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management from $41.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Evercore ISI raised their target price on Artisan Partners Asset Management from $40.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. StockNews.com raised Artisan Partners Asset Management from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on Artisan Partners Asset Management from $40.00 to $39.50 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $44.13.

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.