Townsquare Capital LLC Purchases New Stake in Artisan Partners Asset Management Inc. (NYSE:APAM)

Townsquare Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management Inc. (NYSE:APAM) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 6,805 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $293,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Larson Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management by 82.7% during the 4th quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 581 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 263 shares during the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. grew its stake in Artisan Partners Asset Management by 208.6% in the 4th quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 574 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 388 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Artisan Partners Asset Management by 110.7% in the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 628 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 330 shares during the period. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Artisan Partners Asset Management by 166.8% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,027 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $44,000 after acquiring an additional 642 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management during the fourth quarter worth approximately $57,000. 86.45% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Artisan Partners Asset Management Trading Down 2.4 %

Shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management stock opened at $34.20 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $39.60 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $43.15. The company has a market capitalization of $2.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.40 and a beta of 1.80. 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 Inc. has a 12-month low of $32.75 and a 12-month high of $49.54.

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 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, analysts forecast that Artisan Partners Asset Management Inc. will post 3.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Artisan Partners Asset Management Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th were paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.85%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. Artisan Partners Asset Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 92.31%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. TD Cowen dropped their price target on Artisan Partners Asset Management from $46.00 to $35.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Evercore ISI reduced their target price on shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management from $40.00 to $33.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management from $53.00 to $51.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Artisan Partners Asset Management presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $39.63.

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.