Provident Investment Management Inc. Sells 1,250 Shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management Inc. (NYSE:APAM)

Provident Investment Management Inc. trimmed its holdings in Artisan Partners Asset Management Inc. (NYSE:APAM) by 5.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 19,935 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 1,250 shares during the quarter. Provident Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Artisan Partners Asset Management were worth $858,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its position in Artisan Partners Asset Management by 4.9% during the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 4,838 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $208,000 after buying an additional 226 shares during the period. Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in Artisan Partners Asset Management by 82.7% during 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 during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in 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 acquiring an additional 330 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in Artisan Partners Asset Management by 31.0% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,478 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $64,000 after purchasing an additional 350 shares during the period. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp lifted its position in Artisan Partners Asset Management by 21.6% in the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 2,650 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $114,000 after purchasing an additional 470 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.45% of the company’s stock.

Artisan Partners Asset Management Stock Performance

Shares of APAM stock opened at $37.06 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 0.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $42.20 and a 200 day moving average of $43.88. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.18 and a beta of 1.83. Artisan Partners Asset Management Inc. has a 52 week low of $36.40 and a 52 week high of $49.54.

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 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, research analysts expect that Artisan Partners Asset Management Inc. will post 3.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Artisan Partners Asset Management Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th were given a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.40%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. Artisan Partners Asset Management’s dividend payout ratio is currently 92.31%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Artisan Partners Asset Management Profile

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.