Fisher Asset Management LLC Sells 46,523 Shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management Inc. (NYSE:APAM)

Fisher Asset Management LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management Inc. (NYSE:APAM) by 3.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,499,535 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 46,523 shares during the quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC owned about 1.87% of Artisan Partners Asset Management worth $64,555,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management during the 4th quarter valued at about $255,000. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 69,490 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,992,000 after acquiring an additional 1,147 shares during the last quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management during the 4th quarter valued at about $614,000. Sigma Planning Corp bought a new stake in shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management during the 4th quarter valued at about $202,000. Finally, Handelsbanken Fonder AB boosted its position in shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management by 16.8% during the 4th quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 13,923 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $599,000 after acquiring an additional 2,000 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.45% of the company’s stock.

Artisan Partners Asset Management Stock Performance

NYSE:APAM opened at $42.18 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $43.36 and a 200 day moving average of $43.95. The company has a market capitalization of $3.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.59 and a beta of 1.81. 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 0.47, a current ratio of 0.56 and a quick ratio of 0.73.

Artisan Partners Asset Management (NYSE:APAM) last announced 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 return on equity of 74.02% and a net margin of 23.36%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Artisan Partners Asset Management Inc. will post 3.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Artisan Partners Asset Management Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.74%. Artisan Partners Asset Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 92.31%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on APAM. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on 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. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on Artisan Partners Asset Management from $53.00 to $51.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Artisan Partners Asset Management from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus 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.