Artisan Partners Asset Management Inc. (NYSE:APAM) Short Interest Up 5.1% in April

Artisan Partners Asset Management Inc. (NYSE:APAM) saw a significant growth in short interest in the month of April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totalling 3,110,000 shares, a growth of 5.1% from the March 31st total of 2,960,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 473,500 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 6.6 days.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

APAM has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. StockNews.com upgraded Artisan Partners Asset Management from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, March 17th. TD Cowen initiated coverage on shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management in a report on Thursday, January 4th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $41.00 target price on the stock.

Artisan Partners Asset Management Stock Performance

Artisan Partners Asset Management stock opened at $40.91 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. The company has a market cap of $3.27 billion, a PE ratio of 12.47 and a beta of 1.85. The company’s 50-day moving average is $43.66 and its two-hundred day moving average is $41.20. Artisan Partners Asset Management has a 1 year low of $31.27 and a 1 year high of $46.75.

Artisan Partners Asset Management (NYSE:APAM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The asset manager reported $0.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.79 by ($0.03). Artisan Partners Asset Management had a return on equity of 72.77% and a net margin of 22.99%. The company had revenue of $264.40 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $270.90 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.64 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that Artisan Partners Asset Management will post 3.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Artisan Partners Asset Management Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 17th will be issued a $0.61 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 16th. This represents a $2.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.96%. Artisan Partners Asset Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 82.93%.

Insider Activity

In other Artisan Partners Asset Management news, EVP Gregory K. Ramirez sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.28, for a total value of $105,700.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 83,335 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,523,403.80. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 18.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Artisan Partners Asset Management

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. AlphaMark Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management by 4.0% during the 4th quarter. AlphaMark Advisors LLC now owns 6,736 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $298,000 after acquiring an additional 261 shares in the last quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC grew its position in Artisan Partners Asset Management by 70.3% in the fourth quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 642 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 265 shares in the last quarter. Dana Investment Advisors Inc. grew its position in Artisan Partners Asset Management by 0.5% in the third quarter. Dana Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 58,095 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,174,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC increased its stake in Artisan Partners Asset Management by 19.0% in the 1st quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 2,064 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $94,000 after buying an additional 329 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Commonwealth Equity Services LLC lifted its position in Artisan Partners Asset Management by 5.2% during the 3rd quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 8,097 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $303,000 after buying an additional 397 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.45% of the company’s stock.

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.