Vestcor Inc Sells 942 Shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management Inc. (NYSE:APAM)

Vestcor Inc decreased its position in Artisan Partners Asset Management Inc. (NYSE:APAM) by 2.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 38,130 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 942 shares during the period. Vestcor Inc’s holdings in Artisan Partners Asset Management were worth $1,641,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Swiss National Bank lifted its stake in Artisan Partners Asset Management by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 137,500 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $5,919,000 after acquiring an additional 900 shares in the last quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management during the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,084,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management by 110.7% during the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 628 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 330 shares in the last quarter. Channing Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 224,455 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank raised its stake in shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management by 27.8% during the 4th quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 19,281 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $830,000 after purchasing an additional 4,199 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.45% of the company’s stock.

Artisan Partners Asset Management Stock Up 2.8 %

APAM opened at $39.57 on Friday. Artisan Partners Asset Management Inc. has a 1-year low of $37.89 and a 1-year high of $49.54. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $42.89 and its 200 day simple moving average is $43.94. 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 $3.18 billion, a PE ratio of 10.87 and a beta of 1.83.

Artisan Partners Asset Management (NYSE:APAM) last posted 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 return on equity of 74.02% and a net margin of 23.36%. As a group, research analysts expect 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 was paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th were paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.05%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. Artisan Partners Asset Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 92.31%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective on 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. StockNews.com cut Artisan Partners Asset Management from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $44.38.

Artisan Partners Asset Management Company 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.