6,604 Shares in Artisan Partners Asset Management Inc. (NYSE:APAM) Purchased by Virtu Financial LLC

Virtu Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management Inc. (NYSE:APAM) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 6,604 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $258,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Bessemer Group Inc. increased its holdings in Artisan Partners Asset Management by 208.6% during the 4th quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 574 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 388 shares during the period. Continuum Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in Artisan Partners Asset Management during the 1st quarter worth about $63,000. CWM LLC increased its holdings in Artisan Partners Asset Management by 77.0% during the 1st quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,126 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $83,000 after purchasing an additional 925 shares during the period. NBC Securities Inc. increased its holdings in Artisan Partners Asset Management by 118,700.0% during the 1st quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 2,376 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $92,000 after purchasing an additional 2,374 shares during the period. Finally, KBC Group NV increased its holdings in Artisan Partners Asset Management by 36.2% during the 1st quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 3,996 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $156,000 after purchasing an additional 1,062 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.45% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Wall Street Zen upgraded Artisan Partners Asset Management from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 20th. Cowen restated a “hold” rating on shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. TD Securities upped their price target on Artisan Partners Asset Management from $35.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Evercore ISI cut their price target on Artisan Partners Asset Management from $33.00 to $32.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price target on Artisan Partners Asset Management from $50.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $39.30.

Artisan Partners Asset Management Trading Down 3.0%

APAM opened at $46.34 on Friday. Artisan Partners Asset Management Inc. has a one year low of $32.75 and a one year high of $49.54. The company has a market cap of $3.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.32 and a beta of 1.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 0.97. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $45.28 and its 200-day simple moving average is $42.10.

Artisan Partners Asset Management (NYSE:APAM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 29th. The asset manager reported $0.83 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.82 by $0.01. Artisan Partners Asset Management had a return on equity of 71.72% and a net margin of 23.87%. The business had revenue of $282.80 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $269.00 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.82 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Artisan Partners Asset Management Inc. will post 3.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Artisan Partners Asset Management Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 29th. Investors of record on Friday, August 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.73 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 15th. This represents a $2.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.3%. This is a boost from Artisan Partners Asset Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. Artisan Partners Asset Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 72.34%.

Insider Transactions at Artisan Partners Asset Management

In related news, CFO Charles J. Daley, Jr. sold 15,448 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.45, for a total transaction of $624,871.60. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 91,363 shares in the company, valued at $3,695,633.35. This trade represents a 14.46% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 12.53% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.