Artisan Partners Asset Management (NYSE:APAM) Shares Down 5.4% – Here’s What Happened

Artisan Partners Asset Management Inc. (NYSE:APAM)’s stock price fell 5.4% during mid-day trading on Wednesday. The company traded as low as $38.10 and last traded at $38.0460. Approximately 99,649 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 88% from the average daily volume of 855,196 shares. The stock had previously closed at $40.21.

Analyst Ratings Changes

APAM has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their target price on shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management from $43.00 to $42.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 30th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management in a research report on Tuesday, September 29th. TD Cowen decreased their price objective on shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management from $37.00 to $33.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, October 12th. Zacks Research lowered shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 13th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price on shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management from $35.00 to $31.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $34.75.

Artisan Partners Asset Management Stock Performance

The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $36.30 and a 200 day simple moving average of $38.20. The company has a quick ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The company has a market cap of $3.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.16 and a beta of 1.74.

Artisan Partners Asset Management (NYSE:APAM) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 27th. The asset manager reported $1.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.96 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $312.52 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $307.60 million. Artisan Partners Asset Management had a return on equity of 71.69% and a net margin of 24.54%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.02 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Artisan Partners Asset Management Inc. will post 3.94 EPS for the current year.

Artisan Partners Asset Management Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 16th will be issued a $0.88 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 16th. This represents a $3.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 9.1%. This is a boost from Artisan Partners Asset Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.80. Artisan Partners Asset Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 75.65%.

Insider Transactions at Artisan Partners Asset Management

In other news, EVP Gregory Ramirez sold 7,000 shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.59, for a total transaction of $298,130.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 109,194 shares in the company, valued at $4,650,572.46. This trade represents a 6.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 11.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Artisan Partners Asset Management

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management during the third quarter worth about $2,444,000. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al acquired a new position in shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $996,000. Squarepoint Ops LLC boosted its stake in shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management by 39.8% during the 2nd quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 66,967 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,312,000 after buying an additional 19,069 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management by 1.9% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,670,380 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $60,782,000 after buying an additional 30,863 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE grew its position in shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management by 11.0% during the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 343,520 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $12,501,000 after buying an additional 33,921 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.45% of the company’s stock.

Artisan Partners Asset Management Company Profile

Artisan Partners Asset Management is a global investment management firm that provides active investment strategies to institutional and individual investors. The firm manages portfolios through specialized investment teams, each with its own investment approach and research process. Its offerings include equity and fixed-income strategies spanning a range of styles, market sectors and geographies. These strategies are available through vehicles such as mutual funds and separate accounts, serving clients including institutions and financial intermediaries.