8,183 Shares in Artisan Partners Asset Management Inc. (NYSE:APAM) Acquired by Entropy Technologies LP

Entropy Technologies LP purchased a new position in Artisan Partners Asset Management Inc. (NYSE:APAM - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 8,183 shares of the asset manager's stock, valued at approximately $352,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of APAM. Wasatch Advisors LP increased its position in shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management by 25.3% in the third quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 1,812,080 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $78,499,000 after purchasing an additional 365,434 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management by 22.0% in the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,122,086 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $48,609,000 after purchasing an additional 202,074 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management by 6.2% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,643,915 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $114,534,000 after purchasing an additional 154,536 shares during the period. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. grew its position in Artisan Partners Asset Management by 6.9% in the third quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 1,533,396 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $66,426,000 after acquiring an additional 99,005 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ibex Wealth Advisors bought a new position in Artisan Partners Asset Management in the fourth quarter valued at about $4,247,000. Institutional investors own 86.45% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have issued reports on APAM shares. StockNews.com cut Artisan Partners Asset Management from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Evercore ISI lifted 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 report on Thursday, November 7th. TD Cowen lifted their target price on Artisan Partners Asset Management from $41.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price 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 research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Artisan Partners Asset Management currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $44.38.

Artisan Partners Asset Management Trading Down 1.8 %

Shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management stock traded down $0.78 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $43.53. The company had a trading volume of 388,144 shares, compared to its average volume of 471,671. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $44.04 and a 200 day moving average price of $43.74. 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 $3.50 billion, a PE ratio of 11.96 and a beta of 1.81. Artisan Partners Asset Management Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $37.89 and a fifty-two week high of $49.54.

Artisan Partners Asset Management (NYSE:APAM - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The asset manager reported $1.05 EPS 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, equities analysts anticipate that Artisan Partners Asset Management Inc. will post 3.53 earnings per share for the current year.

Artisan Partners Asset Management Cuts Dividend

The business 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 is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.59%. Artisan Partners Asset Management's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 90.11%.

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.