Victory Capital Management Inc. Sells 288,552 Shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management Inc. (NYSE:APAM)

Victory Capital Management Inc. lessened its holdings in Artisan Partners Asset Management Inc. (NYSE:APAM) by 19.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,209,201 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 288,552 shares during the quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. owned approximately 1.51% of Artisan Partners Asset Management worth $53,422,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of APAM. AlphaMark Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Artisan Partners Asset Management by 4.0% in the fourth quarter. AlphaMark Advisors LLC now owns 6,736 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $298,000 after buying an additional 261 shares during the period. Dana Investment Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Dana Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 58,095 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,174,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the period. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC lifted its stake in shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management by 5.2% in the 3rd quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 8,097 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $303,000 after purchasing an additional 397 shares during the period. Arizona State Retirement System boosted its position in shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 19,491 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $729,000 after purchasing an additional 406 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Operose Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management by 0.8% during the third quarter. Operose Advisors LLC now owns 54,783 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,050,000 after purchasing an additional 418 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 86.45% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, StockNews.com raised Artisan Partners Asset Management from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Sunday, March 17th.

Artisan Partners Asset Management Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE:APAM opened at $42.29 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $43.63 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $41.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a current ratio of 0.64. The company has a market capitalization of $3.38 billion, a PE ratio of 12.89 and a beta of 1.85. Artisan Partners Asset Management Inc. has a 52 week low of $31.27 and a 52 week high of $46.75.

Artisan Partners Asset Management (NYSE:APAM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 24th. The asset manager reported $0.76 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.79 by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $264.40 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $270.90 million. Artisan Partners Asset Management had a net margin of 22.99% and a return on equity of 72.77%. Artisan Partners Asset Management’s quarterly revenue was up 12.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.64 EPS. Analysts forecast that Artisan Partners Asset Management Inc. will post 3.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Artisan Partners Asset Management Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 17th will be given a dividend of $0.61 per share. This represents a $2.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.77%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 16th. Artisan Partners Asset Management’s dividend payout ratio is currently 82.93%.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Gregory K. Ramirez sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.28, for a total transaction of $105,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 83,335 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,523,403.80. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 18.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.