QRG Capital Management Inc. Has $1.73 Million Stock Position in Artisan Partners Asset Management Inc. (NYSE:APAM)

QRG Capital Management Inc. lowered its stake in Artisan Partners Asset Management Inc. (NYSE:APAM) by 10.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 40,252 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 4,519 shares during the period. QRG Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Artisan Partners Asset Management were worth $1,733,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in APAM. Wasatch Advisors LP boosted its position 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 buying an additional 365,434 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management by 22.0% during the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,122,086 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $48,609,000 after acquiring an additional 202,074 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management by 6.2% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,643,915 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $114,534,000 after acquiring an additional 154,536 shares during the last quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. raised its stake in shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management by 6.9% during the third quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 1,533,396 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $66,426,000 after acquiring an additional 99,005 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ibex Wealth Advisors bought a new position in shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management during the fourth quarter valued at $4,247,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.45% of the company’s stock.

Artisan Partners Asset Management Price Performance

Shares of NYSE APAM opened at $42.18 on Monday. Artisan Partners Asset Management Inc. has a twelve month low of $37.89 and a twelve month high of $49.54. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $43.36 and a 200 day simple moving average of $43.98. The company has a market capitalization of $3.39 billion, a PE ratio of 11.59 and a beta of 1.81. The company has a quick ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 0.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47.

Artisan Partners Asset Management (NYSE:APAM) last announced its earnings results 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%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Artisan Partners Asset Management Inc. will post 3.6 EPS for the current year.

Artisan Partners Asset Management Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.74%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. Artisan Partners Asset Management’s dividend payout ratio is presently 92.31%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

APAM has been the subject of several analyst reports. Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of 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. StockNews.com raised shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on shares of 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. One equities 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 company. According to MarketBeat, Artisan Partners Asset Management currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $44.38.

Artisan Partners Asset Management 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.