Vanguard Group Inc. Buys 78,979 Shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management Inc. (NYSE:APAM)

Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Artisan Partners Asset Management Inc. (NYSE:APAM - Free Report) by 1.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 8,097,132 shares of the asset manager's stock after buying an additional 78,979 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned about 10.08% of Artisan Partners Asset Management worth $348,582,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Larson Financial Group LLC grew its position 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 worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 263 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted 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 buying an additional 330 shares in the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 642 shares during the last quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in Artisan Partners Asset Management in the 4th quarter valued at about $57,000. Finally, R Squared Ltd bought a new position in shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management in the fourth quarter worth about $62,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.45% of the company's stock.

Artisan Partners Asset Management Trading Down 2.5 %

NYSE APAM traded down $0.85 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $33.84. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,079,212 shares, compared to its average volume of 454,960. Artisan Partners Asset Management Inc. has a twelve month low of $32.75 and a twelve month high of $49.54. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.30 and a beta of 1.80. 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 $41.41 and a 200 day moving average of $43.67.

Artisan Partners Asset Management (NYSE:APAM - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly 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 return on equity of 74.02% and a net margin of 23.36%. Equities research analysts forecast that Artisan Partners Asset Management Inc. will post 3.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Artisan Partners Asset Management Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th were given a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.91%. Artisan Partners Asset Management's dividend payout ratio is presently 92.31%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

APAM has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price target 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 lowered Artisan Partners Asset Management from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Artisan Partners Asset Management presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $44.38.

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.