Intech Investment Management LLC Increases Stock Position in Artisan Partners Asset Management Inc. (NYSE:APAM)

Intech Investment Management LLC increased its position in Artisan Partners Asset Management Inc. (NYSE:APAM) by 56.3% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 20,555 shares of the asset manager’s stock after buying an additional 7,400 shares during the period. Intech Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Artisan Partners Asset Management were worth $885,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

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

Artisan Partners Asset Management Price Performance

APAM opened at $40.24 on Monday. Artisan Partners Asset Management Inc. has a twelve month low of $37.89 and a twelve month high of $49.54. The firm has a market cap of $3.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.05 and a beta of 1.83. The company has a current ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $42.71 and a 200 day simple moving average of $43.94.

Artisan Partners Asset Management (NYSE:APAM) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The asset manager reported $1.05 earnings per share 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%. Equities research analysts expect 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th were given a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.97%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. Artisan Partners Asset Management’s payout ratio is 92.31%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

APAM has been the subject of a number of research reports. StockNews.com raised shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on 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 equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Artisan Partners Asset Management presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target 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.