Short Interest in Artisan Partners Asset Management Inc. (NYSE:APAM) Drops By 20.8%

Artisan Partners Asset Management Inc. (NYSE:APAM) saw a large decline in short interest in the month of March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 2,060,000 shares, a decline of 20.8% from the February 28th total of 2,600,000 shares. Currently, 2.9% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 518,200 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 4.0 days.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have weighed in on APAM. StockNews.com raised Artisan Partners Asset Management from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on Artisan Partners Asset Management from $53.00 to $51.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock 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 company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Artisan Partners Asset Management presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $44.38.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Artisan Partners Asset Management

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Dogwood Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Artisan Partners Asset Management by 8.4% in the 4th quarter. Dogwood Wealth Management LLC now owns 12,792 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $551,000 after purchasing an additional 993 shares in the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management in the fourth quarter worth $1,852,000. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its position in shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management by 7.3% in the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 224,254 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $9,654,000 after buying an additional 15,266 shares in the last quarter. Voloridge Investment Management LLC grew its position in Artisan Partners Asset Management by 24.1% during the fourth quarter. Voloridge Investment Management LLC now owns 169,607 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $7,302,000 after buying an additional 32,953 shares in the last quarter. Finally, WBI Investments LLC bought a new position in Artisan Partners Asset Management in the 4th quarter worth about $368,000. 86.45% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Artisan Partners Asset Management Stock Down 2.9 %

APAM opened at $39.11 on Monday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $42.58 and a 200 day moving average of $43.97. The company has a current ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. Artisan Partners Asset Management has a 12 month low of $37.89 and a 12 month high of $49.54. The company has a market cap of $3.14 billion, a PE ratio of 10.74 and a beta of 1.83.

Artisan Partners Asset Management (NYSE:APAM) last announced its quarterly 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%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Artisan Partners Asset Management will post 3.6 EPS for the current year.

Artisan Partners Asset Management Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.11%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. Artisan Partners Asset Management’s dividend payout ratio is presently 92.31%.

Artisan Partners Asset Management Company 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.