Arete Wealth Advisors LLC Takes $312,000 Position in Artisan Partners Asset Management Inc. (NYSE:APAM)

Arete Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Artisan Partners Asset Management Inc. (NYSE:APAM) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 7,250 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $312,000.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Larson Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in Artisan Partners Asset Management by 82.7% in the 4th quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 581 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 263 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management by 110.7% in the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 628 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 330 shares in the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management by 166.8% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,027 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 642 shares in the last quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new position in Artisan Partners Asset Management in the fourth quarter worth $57,000. Finally, R Squared Ltd acquired a new stake in Artisan Partners Asset Management during the fourth quarter worth $62,000. 86.45% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on APAM shares. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management from $53.00 to $51.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $44.38.

Artisan Partners Asset Management Stock Performance

Artisan Partners Asset Management stock opened at $35.40 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.73 and a beta of 1.80. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $42.03 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $43.86. Artisan Partners Asset Management Inc. has a 52-week low of $34.71 and a 52-week high of $49.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 0.56 and a quick ratio of 0.73.

Artisan Partners Asset Management (NYSE:APAM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The asset manager reported $1.05 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.97 by $0.08. Artisan Partners Asset Management had a net margin of 23.36% and a return on equity of 74.02%. As a group, analysts anticipate that Artisan Partners Asset Management Inc. will post 3.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Artisan Partners Asset Management Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.65%. Artisan Partners Asset Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.