Artisan Partners Asset Management (NYSE:APAM) Stock Price Down 6.3% – Should You Sell?

Shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management Inc. (NYSE:APAM) were down 6.3% during trading on Tuesday . The company traded as low as $39.67 and last traded at $39.63. Approximately 475,557 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 3% from the average daily volume of 490,380 shares. The stock had previously closed at $42.31.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. StockNews.com cut Artisan Partners Asset Management from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target on 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 research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $44.38.

Artisan Partners Asset Management Trading Down 5.5 %

The business’s fifty day moving average is $43.12 and its 200-day moving average is $44.03. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.21 billion, a PE ratio of 10.98 and a beta of 1.83. 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 quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The asset manager reported $1.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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, analysts anticipate that Artisan Partners Asset Management Inc. will post 3.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Artisan Partners Asset Management Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th were paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.00%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. Artisan Partners Asset Management’s dividend payout ratio is currently 92.31%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 8,097,132 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $348,582,000 after buying an additional 78,979 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Artisan Partners Asset Management by 4.9% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,772,632 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $119,362,000 after acquiring an additional 128,717 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its holdings in Artisan Partners Asset Management by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,742,935 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $118,824,000 after acquiring an additional 33,723 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,813,598 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $78,092,000 after purchasing an additional 38,284 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wasatch Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management by 25.3% in the 3rd quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 1,812,080 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $78,499,000 after purchasing an additional 365,434 shares in the last quarter. 86.45% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.