Gregory Ramirez Sells 7,000 Shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management (NYSE:APAM) Stock

Artisan Partners Asset Management Inc. (NYSE:APAM) EVP Gregory Ramirez sold 7,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.59, for a total transaction of $298,130.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 109,194 shares in the company, valued at $4,650,572.46. This represents a 6.02% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink.

Artisan Partners Asset Management Price Performance

Shares of APAM opened at $42.12 on Friday. Artisan Partners Asset Management Inc. has a 12 month low of $33.96 and a 12 month high of $47.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 0.90 and a quick ratio of 0.90. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $38.70 and a 200 day moving average price of $38.40. The company has a market cap of $3.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.22 and a beta of 1.67.

Artisan Partners Asset Management (NYSE:APAM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 28th. The asset manager reported $0.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.91 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $307.91 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $301.32 million. Artisan Partners Asset Management had a net margin of 24.08% and a return on equity of 73.11%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.83 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Artisan Partners Asset Management Inc. will post 3.91 earnings per share for the current year.

Artisan Partners Asset Management Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.80 per share. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 17th. This is a positive change from Artisan Partners Asset Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. Artisan Partners Asset Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 77.67%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Artisan Partners Asset Management

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. UBS Group AG raised its stake in shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management by 21.6% in the 4th quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 279,067 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $11,369,000 after buying an additional 49,635 shares in the last quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System bought a new position in Artisan Partners Asset Management during the first quarter valued at about $1,135,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in Artisan Partners Asset Management by 1.9% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,670,380 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $60,782,000 after acquiring an additional 30,863 shares during the period. Navellier & Associates Inc. acquired a new position in Artisan Partners Asset Management during the fourth quarter worth about $3,490,000. Finally, Vestcor Inc raised its position in Artisan Partners Asset Management by 154.5% in the fourth quarter. Vestcor Inc now owns 45,733 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,863,000 after acquiring an additional 27,762 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.45% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Zacks Research lowered shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 22nd. Evercore set a $36.00 target price on Artisan Partners Asset Management in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management in a research note on Thursday, July 2nd. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price target on Artisan Partners Asset Management from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, TD Cowen increased their price target on Artisan Partners Asset Management from $35.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Artisan Partners Asset Management currently has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $38.00.

About Artisan Partners Asset Management

Artisan Partners Asset Management Inc is a global investment management firm that specializes in active, fundamental research-driven strategies across a range of equity, fixed income and alternative asset classes. Founded in 1994 by Andrew Ziegler, the company has built a reputation for its team-based approach to portfolio construction, emphasizing deep sector expertise and independent analysis. Its product lineup includes U.S. and international equity strategies, global emerging markets, as well as credit and multisector fixed income offerings.

Artisan Partners serves a diverse client base that spans institutional investors, intermediaries and high-net-worth individuals located in North America, Europe and Asia.