Meritage Portfolio Management Sells 5,548 Shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management Inc. (NYSE:APAM)

Meritage Portfolio Management lowered its stake in Artisan Partners Asset Management Inc. (NYSE:APAM) by 4.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 120,457 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 5,548 shares during the quarter. Meritage Portfolio Management’s holdings in Artisan Partners Asset Management were worth $5,218,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Matrix Trust Co bought a new stake in Artisan Partners Asset Management during the third quarter valued at $30,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management by 81.5% during the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 775 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 348 shares in the last quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management by 41.8% during the third quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,004 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 296 shares in the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. increased its position in shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management by 735.9% in the third quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 1,212 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $52,000 after purchasing an additional 1,067 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quarry LP purchased a new stake in Artisan Partners Asset Management in the second quarter valued at approximately $63,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.45% of the company’s stock.

Artisan Partners Asset Management Trading Down 0.4 %

APAM stock traded down $0.20 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $47.96. The company had a trading volume of 453,528 shares, compared to its average volume of 448,689. The company has a current ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. Artisan Partners Asset Management Inc. has a 52 week low of $35.44 and a 52 week high of $49.30. The stock has a market cap of $3.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.36 and a beta of 1.79. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $43.21 and its 200 day moving average price is $42.42.

Artisan Partners Asset Management (NYSE:APAM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The asset manager reported $0.92 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.90 by $0.02. Artisan Partners Asset Management had a net margin of 23.95% and a return on equity of 71.50%. The business had revenue of $279.60 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $279.70 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.75 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Artisan Partners Asset Management Inc. will post 3.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Artisan Partners Asset Management Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be given a $0.82 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 15th. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.84%. Artisan Partners Asset Management’s dividend payout ratio is currently 79.11%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $50.00 price target on shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management in a research note on Monday, July 29th. StockNews.com upgraded Artisan Partners Asset Management from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. TD Cowen lifted their price target on Artisan Partners Asset Management from $41.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Evercore ISI increased 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 report on Thursday. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their target price on Artisan Partners Asset Management from $40.00 to $39.50 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $44.13.

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.