Aviva PLC Sells 2,799 Shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management Inc. (NYSE:APAM)

Aviva PLC trimmed its stake in Artisan Partners Asset Management Inc. (NYSE:APAM) by 18.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 12,762 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 2,799 shares during the period. Aviva PLC’s holdings in Artisan Partners Asset Management were worth $549,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in APAM. Larson Financial Group LLC grew its stake in Artisan Partners Asset Management by 82.7% during the fourth quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 581 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 263 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management by 110.7% during the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 628 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 330 shares during the period. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management by 166.8% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,027 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $44,000 after acquiring an additional 642 shares in the last quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management during the 4th quarter valued at $57,000. Finally, R Squared Ltd bought a new position in Artisan Partners Asset Management during the fourth quarter worth $62,000. Institutional investors own 86.45% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

APAM has been the subject of several research analyst reports. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on Artisan Partners Asset Management from $53.00 to $51.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. TD Cowen reduced their price objective on Artisan Partners Asset Management from $46.00 to $35.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Evercore ISI lowered their target price on Artisan Partners Asset Management from $40.00 to $33.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Artisan Partners Asset Management has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $39.63.

Artisan Partners Asset Management Stock Performance

Shares of APAM opened at $35.50 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.75 and a beta of 1.80. Artisan Partners Asset Management Inc. has a 52 week low of $32.75 and a 52 week high of $49.54. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $40.75 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $43.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a current ratio of 0.56.

Artisan Partners Asset Management (NYSE:APAM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The asset manager reported $1.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.97 by $0.08. Artisan Partners Asset Management had a return on equity of 74.02% and a net margin of 23.36%. Equities 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 company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th were issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.63%. Artisan Partners Asset Management’s dividend payout ratio is currently 92.31%.

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.