Plato Investment Management Ltd Acquires Shares of 4,918 Artisan Partners Asset Management Inc. (NYSE:APAM)

Plato Investment Management Ltd bought a new position in shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management Inc. (NYSE:APAM) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 4,918 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $212,000.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Artisan Partners Asset Management by 166.8% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,027 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $44,000 after acquiring an additional 642 shares during the period. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management during the 4th quarter worth $57,000. R Squared Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management during the 4th quarter worth $62,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake 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 worth $64,000 after purchasing an additional 350 shares during the period. Finally, MCF Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management by 70.9% in the 4th quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 1,538 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $66,000 after purchasing an additional 638 shares in the last quarter. 86.45% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Artisan Partners Asset Management Stock Performance

Shares of APAM opened at $40.54 on Wednesday. Artisan Partners Asset Management Inc. has a 12-month low of $37.89 and a 12-month high of $49.54. The stock has a market cap of $3.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.14 and a beta of 1.81. 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 50-day moving average of $43.32 and a two-hundred day moving average of $43.99.

Artisan Partners Asset Management (NYSE:APAM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The asset manager reported $1.05 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.97 by $0.08. Artisan Partners Asset Management had a net margin of 23.36% and a return on equity of 74.02%. As a group, research analysts predict that Artisan Partners Asset Management Inc. will post 3.6 EPS 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. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th were issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.93%. Artisan Partners Asset Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 92.31%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently commented on APAM shares. StockNews.com raised shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price target on Artisan Partners Asset Management from $53.00 to $51.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their price objective on Artisan Partners Asset Management from $40.00 to $44.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Artisan Partners Asset Management currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $44.38.

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.