Man Group plc Sells 3,986 Shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management Inc. (NYSE:APAM)

Man Group plc lessened its holdings in Artisan Partners Asset Management Inc. (NYSE:APAM) by 3.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 120,561 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 3,986 shares during the period. Man Group plc owned about 0.15% of Artisan Partners Asset Management worth $5,190,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Larson Financial Group LLC grew its position in Artisan Partners Asset Management by 82.7% in the fourth 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 during the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. grew its position in Artisan Partners Asset Management by 208.6% in the fourth quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 574 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 388 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in 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 acquiring an additional 330 shares during the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its position in 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 acquiring an additional 642 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new position in Artisan Partners Asset Management in the fourth quarter valued at about $57,000. Institutional investors own 86.45% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Samuel Bentson Sellers sold 6,801 shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.24, for a total value of $300,876.24. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 40,529 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,793,002.96. The trade was a 14.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 12.98% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Artisan Partners Asset Management Price Performance

Artisan Partners Asset Management stock opened at $42.41 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $38.69 and its 200 day moving average is $42.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 0.56 and a quick ratio of 0.73. The firm has a market cap of $3.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.65 and a beta of 1.68. Artisan Partners Asset Management Inc. has a one year low of $32.75 and a one year high of $49.54.

Artisan Partners Asset Management (NYSE:APAM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The asset manager reported $0.83 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.76 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $277.10 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $281.15 million. Artisan Partners Asset Management had a return on equity of 74.02% and a net margin of 23.36%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.76 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Artisan Partners Asset Management Inc. will post 3.6 EPS for the current year.

Artisan Partners Asset Management Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 30th. Investors of record on Friday, May 16th will be paid a $0.68 dividend. This represents a $2.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.41%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 16th. Artisan Partners Asset Management’s dividend payout ratio is currently 75.14%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

APAM has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. StockNews.com upgraded Artisan Partners Asset Management from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. TD Securities boosted their price target on Artisan Partners Asset Management from $35.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Evercore ISI reduced their price target on Artisan Partners Asset Management from $33.00 to $32.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on Artisan Partners Asset Management from $43.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Finally, Cowen restated a “hold” rating on shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Artisan Partners Asset Management has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $37.90.

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.