Swiss National Bank Purchases 900 Shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management Inc. (NYSE:APAM)

Swiss National Bank boosted its holdings in Artisan Partners Asset Management Inc. (NYSE:APAM) by 0.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 137,500 shares of the asset manager’s stock after buying an additional 900 shares during the quarter. Swiss National Bank’s holdings in Artisan Partners Asset Management were worth $5,919,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Artisan Partners Asset Management in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $20,607,000. Wasatch Advisors LP increased its holdings in Artisan Partners Asset Management by 25.3% in the third quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 1,812,080 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $78,499,000 after purchasing an additional 365,434 shares during the period. Channing Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Artisan Partners Asset Management by 14.5% in the fourth quarter. Channing Capital Management LLC now owns 1,770,526 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $76,221,000 after purchasing an additional 224,455 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in Artisan Partners Asset Management by 6.2% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,643,915 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $114,534,000 after purchasing an additional 154,536 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ibex Wealth Advisors acquired a new position in Artisan Partners Asset Management during the 4th quarter worth about $4,247,000. Institutional investors own 86.45% of the company’s stock.

Artisan Partners Asset Management Stock Performance

Shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management stock opened at $40.24 on Monday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $42.71 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $43.94. 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 current ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. The company has a market cap of $3.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.05 and a beta of 1.83.

Artisan Partners Asset Management (NYSE:APAM) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The asset manager reported $1.05 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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, analysts anticipate that Artisan Partners Asset Management Inc. will post 3.6 EPS for the current year.

Artisan Partners Asset Management Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th were paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend 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 is currently 92.31%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on APAM. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price target on 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. StockNews.com raised shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Artisan Partners Asset Management presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price 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.