Asset Management One Co. Ltd. Trims Stake in Artisan Partners Asset Management Inc. (NYSE:APAM)

Asset Management One Co. Ltd. lowered its position in shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management Inc. (NYSE:APAM - Free Report) by 17.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 35,969 shares of the asset manager's stock after selling 7,803 shares during the period. Asset Management One Co. Ltd.'s holdings in Artisan Partners Asset Management were worth $1,582,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. lifted its stake in Artisan Partners Asset Management by 735.9% during the third quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 1,212 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $52,000 after purchasing an additional 1,067 shares during the last quarter. R Squared Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management in the 4th quarter valued at about $62,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in shares of 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 valued at $64,000 after acquiring an additional 350 shares during the last quarter. MCF Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management by 70.9% in the 4th quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 1,538 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $66,000 after acquiring an additional 638 shares during the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV lifted its stake in shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management by 22.9% in the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,218 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $96,000 after acquiring an additional 413 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.45% of the company's stock.

Artisan Partners Asset Management Trading Down 3.6 %

NYSE:APAM traded down $1.60 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $42.33. 649,916 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 472,886. Artisan Partners Asset Management Inc. has a 12-month low of $37.89 and a 12-month high of $49.54. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.63 and a beta of 1.81. 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 company has a 50 day moving average price of $43.71 and a 200-day moving average price of $43.78.

Artisan Partners Asset Management (NYSE:APAM - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The asset manager reported $1.05 earnings per share (EPS) 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%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Artisan Partners Asset Management Inc. will post 3.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Artisan Partners Asset Management Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.72%. Artisan Partners Asset Management's dividend payout ratio is presently 92.31%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on Artisan Partners Asset Management from $40.00 to $44.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. TD Cowen boosted their target price on Artisan Partners Asset Management from $41.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. StockNews.com lowered Artisan Partners Asset Management from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on Artisan Partners Asset Management from $53.00 to $51.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price 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.