RDA Financial Network Cuts Stake in Artisan Partners Asset Management Inc. (NYSE:APAM)

RDA Financial Network cut its stake in Artisan Partners Asset Management Inc. (NYSE:APAM) by 6.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 8,619 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 615 shares during the quarter. RDA Financial Network’s holdings in Artisan Partners Asset Management were worth $371,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. lifted its position 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 worth $2,121,000 after buying an additional 5,293 shares in the last quarter. Matrix Trust Co raised its holdings in shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management by 679.1% during the 4th quarter. Matrix Trust Co now owns 5,446 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $234,000 after acquiring an additional 4,747 shares during the period. Range Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management during the 4th quarter worth $425,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management by 31.0% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,478 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $64,000 after acquiring an additional 350 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management by 7.0% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 47,799 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,120,000 after purchasing an additional 3,147 shares during the period. 86.45% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have commented on APAM. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management from $40.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. TD Cowen lifted 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 report on Thursday, October 31st. StockNews.com upgraded Artisan Partners Asset Management from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price on Artisan Partners Asset Management from $40.00 to $39.50 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Artisan Partners Asset Management has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $44.13.

Artisan Partners Asset Management Price Performance

Shares of APAM opened at $42.88 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $45.50 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $43.37. The stock has a market cap of $3.45 billion, a PE ratio of 11.94 and a beta of 1.80. Artisan Partners Asset Management Inc. has a 1-year low of $37.89 and a 1-year high of $49.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 0.73 and a quick ratio of 0.73.

Artisan Partners Asset Management (NYSE:APAM) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The asset manager reported $0.92 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.90 by $0.02. Artisan Partners Asset Management had a net margin of 23.95% and a return on equity of 71.50%. The firm had revenue of $279.60 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $279.70 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.75 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Artisan Partners Asset Management Inc. will post 3.18 EPS for the current year.

Artisan Partners Asset Management Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 29th. Investors of record on Friday, November 15th were issued a $0.82 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 15th. This represents a $3.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.65%. Artisan Partners Asset Management’s dividend payout ratio is presently 91.37%.

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.