Operose Advisors LLC Grows Stock Position in Artisan Partners Asset Management Inc. (NYSE:APAM)

Operose Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Artisan Partners Asset Management Inc. (NYSE:APAM) by 0.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 57,288 shares of the asset manager’s stock after buying an additional 486 shares during the quarter. Artisan Partners Asset Management accounts for about 0.8% of Operose Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 17th largest position. Operose Advisors LLC owned approximately 0.07% of Artisan Partners Asset Management worth $2,466,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of APAM. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Artisan Partners Asset Management by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 8,097,132 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $348,582,000 after purchasing an additional 78,979 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Artisan Partners Asset Management by 4.9% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,772,632 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $119,362,000 after purchasing an additional 128,717 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,813,598 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $78,092,000 after buying an additional 38,284 shares during the period. Channing Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Artisan Partners Asset Management by 14.5% during the 4th quarter. Channing Capital Management LLC now owns 1,770,526 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $76,221,000 after acquiring an additional 224,455 shares during the period. Finally, Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. raised its stake in shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management by 3.7% in the fourth quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 1,589,586 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $68,432,000 after purchasing an additional 56,190 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.45% of the company’s stock.

Artisan Partners Asset Management Price Performance

Shares of NYSE APAM opened at $35.74 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a current ratio of 0.56. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $40.57 and a 200 day moving average of $43.42. The firm has a market cap of $2.87 billion, a PE ratio of 9.82 and a beta of 1.80. Artisan Partners Asset Management Inc. has a one year low of $32.75 and a one year high of $49.54.

Artisan Partners Asset Management (NYSE:APAM) last issued 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 net margin of 23.36% and a return on equity of 74.02%. As a group, research analysts predict that Artisan Partners Asset Management Inc. will post 3.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Artisan Partners Asset Management Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th were paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.60%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. Artisan Partners Asset Management’s dividend payout ratio is currently 92.31%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have commented on APAM. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective on shares of 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. TD Cowen lowered their target price on Artisan Partners Asset Management from $46.00 to $35.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. StockNews.com downgraded Artisan Partners Asset Management from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Evercore ISI cut their target price on shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management from $40.00 to $33.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a report on Friday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $39.63.

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.