Artisan Partners Asset Management Inc. (NYSE:APAM) Shares Sold by Moran Wealth Management LLC

Moran Wealth Management LLC lessened its stake in shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management Inc. (NYSE:APAM) by 2.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 57,701 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 1,560 shares during the quarter. Moran Wealth Management LLC owned 0.07% of Artisan Partners Asset Management worth $2,484,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Artisan Partners Asset Management by 4.9% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,772,632 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $119,362,000 after purchasing an additional 128,717 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management by 1.2% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,742,935 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $118,824,000 after acquiring an additional 33,723 shares in the last quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management by 25.3% during the third quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 1,812,080 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $78,499,000 after acquiring an additional 365,434 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management by 4.9% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,775,314 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $76,920,000 after acquiring an additional 82,868 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. lifted its stake in shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management by 3.7% in the fourth quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 1,589,586 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $68,432,000 after acquiring an additional 56,190 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.45% of the company’s stock.

Artisan Partners Asset Management Stock Down 5.5 %

Shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management stock opened at $39.97 on Wednesday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $43.12 and a 200 day moving average price of $44.03. Artisan Partners Asset Management Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $37.89 and a fifty-two week high of $49.54. The firm has a market cap of $3.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.98 and a beta of 1.83. The company has a quick ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 0.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47.

Artisan Partners Asset Management (NYSE:APAM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The asset manager reported $1.05 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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%. On average, 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 firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.00%. Artisan Partners Asset Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 92.31%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

APAM has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. StockNews.com lowered Artisan Partners Asset Management from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday. Royal Bank of Canada decreased 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 analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Artisan Partners Asset Management has a consensus 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.