SG Americas Securities LLC Sells 12,379 Shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management Inc. (NYSE:APAM)

SG Americas Securities LLC lessened its stake in Artisan Partners Asset Management Inc. (NYSE:APAM - Free Report) by 73.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 4,361 shares of the asset manager's stock after selling 12,379 shares during the quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC's holdings in Artisan Partners Asset Management were worth $188,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of APAM. MCF Advisors LLC raised its stake in Artisan Partners Asset Management by 70.9% during the fourth quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 1,538 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $66,000 after purchasing an additional 638 shares in the last quarter. Guinness Asset Management LTD raised its stake in Artisan Partners Asset Management by 66.0% during the fourth quarter. Guinness Asset Management LTD now owns 11,359 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $489,000 after purchasing an additional 4,515 shares in the last quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in Artisan Partners Asset Management during the fourth quarter valued at $233,000. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in Artisan Partners Asset Management by 12.0% during the fourth quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 49,262 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $2,121,000 after purchasing an additional 5,293 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Matrix Trust Co raised its stake in Artisan Partners Asset Management by 679.1% during the fourth quarter. Matrix Trust Co now owns 5,446 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $234,000 after purchasing an additional 4,747 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.45% of the company's stock.

Artisan Partners Asset Management Trading Down 2.5 %

Shares of NYSE APAM traded down $1.15 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $44.17. The company had a trading volume of 570,518 shares, compared to its average volume of 475,833. The business's 50-day moving average is $44.31 and its 200-day moving average is $43.73. The company has a current ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. The stock has a market cap of $3.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.13 and a beta of 1.81. Artisan Partners Asset Management Inc. has a 52 week low of $37.89 and a 52 week high of $49.54.

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 EPS 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%. Equities analysts expect 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. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.53%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. Artisan Partners Asset Management's payout ratio is presently 90.11%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently issued reports on APAM. TD Cowen upped their price target on shares of 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 cut shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Royal Bank of Canada cut 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 report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of 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. 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, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average 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.