Heron Bay Capital Management Reduces Stock Holdings in Artisan Partners Asset Management Inc. (NYSE:APAM)

Heron Bay Capital Management lessened its stake in Artisan Partners Asset Management Inc. (NYSE:APAM - Free Report) by 39.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 66,041 shares of the asset manager's stock after selling 42,812 shares during the period. Heron Bay Capital Management owned about 0.08% of Artisan Partners Asset Management worth $2,843,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of APAM. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS bought a new stake in shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management in the fourth quarter worth about $852,000. Sei Investments Co. boosted its position in Artisan Partners Asset Management by 5.2% during the 4th quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 101,826 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $4,384,000 after acquiring an additional 5,065 shares in the last quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas boosted its position in Artisan Partners Asset Management by 6.6% during the 4th quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 164,039 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $7,062,000 after acquiring an additional 10,120 shares in the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management by 56.3% in the 4th quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 20,555 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $885,000 after purchasing an additional 7,400 shares during the period. Finally, Cibc World Markets Corp bought a new stake in shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $254,000. 86.45% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Artisan Partners Asset Management Stock Down 1.5 %

Artisan Partners Asset Management stock traded down $0.61 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $40.23. The company had a trading volume of 497,301 shares, compared to its average volume of 421,988. Artisan Partners Asset Management Inc. has a 12 month low of $37.89 and a 12 month high of $49.54. The company has a market capitalization of $3.23 billion, a PE ratio of 11.05 and a beta of 1.83. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $42.66 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $43.91. 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 (NYSE:APAM - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The asset manager reported $1.05 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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, sell-side analysts anticipate 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 dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.97%. Artisan Partners Asset Management's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 92.31%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently commented on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded shares of 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 objective 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $44.38.

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.