Artisan Partners Asset Management Inc. (NYSE:APAM) Short Interest Down 20.8% in March

Artisan Partners Asset Management Inc. (NYSE:APAM) was the target of a large decline in short interest in March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 2,060,000 shares, a decline of 20.8% from the February 28th total of 2,600,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 518,200 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 4.0 days. Approximately 2.9% of the company’s shares are short sold.

Artisan Partners Asset Management Stock Performance

NYSE:APAM traded up $0.56 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $39.66. 366,657 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 444,460. Artisan Partners Asset Management has a 52 week low of $37.89 and a 52 week high of $49.54. The company has a quick ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 0.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.89 and a beta of 1.83. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $42.42 and a 200-day simple moving average of $43.95.

Artisan Partners Asset Management (NYSE:APAM) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The asset manager reported $1.05 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Artisan Partners Asset Management will post 3.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Artisan Partners Asset Management Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.04%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. Artisan Partners Asset Management’s payout ratio is 92.31%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Artisan Partners Asset Management in the 4th quarter valued at about $20,607,000. Channing Capital Management LLC increased its position in Artisan Partners Asset Management by 14.5% in the 4th quarter. Channing Capital Management LLC now owns 1,770,526 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $76,221,000 after acquiring an additional 224,455 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC boosted its position in Artisan Partners Asset Management by 98.2% during the 4th quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 439,057 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $18,901,000 after acquiring an additional 217,552 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC grew its stake in shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management by 3,041.5% in the fourth quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 150,730 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $6,495,000 after purchasing an additional 145,932 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management in the 4th quarter worth approximately $5,627,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.45% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

APAM has been the subject of several research reports. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective on shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management from $53.00 to $51.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. StockNews.com upgraded Artisan Partners Asset Management from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $44.38.

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.