Sprott Inc. Decreases Stock Position in Artisan Partners Asset Management Inc. (NYSE:APAM)

Sprott Inc. trimmed its position in shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management Inc. (NYSE:APAM) by 1.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 369,595 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 5,000 shares during the period. Artisan Partners Asset Management makes up 0.9% of Sprott Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 29th biggest position. Sprott Inc. owned 0.46% of Artisan Partners Asset Management worth $15,911,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 69,490 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,992,000 after acquiring an additional 1,147 shares in the last quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new position in Artisan Partners Asset Management in the fourth quarter valued at about $614,000. Sigma Planning Corp purchased a new stake in Artisan Partners Asset Management during the 4th quarter worth approximately $202,000. Handelsbanken Fonder AB increased its holdings in Artisan Partners Asset Management by 16.8% during the 4th quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 13,923 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $599,000 after purchasing an additional 2,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, New York State Common Retirement Fund raised its position in shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management by 16.3% in the 4th quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 430,619 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $18,538,000 after purchasing an additional 60,352 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.45% of the company’s stock.

Artisan Partners Asset Management Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:APAM opened at $42.34 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $3.40 billion, a PE ratio of 11.63 and a beta of 1.81. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $43.45 and a 200 day simple moving average of $43.93. Artisan Partners Asset Management Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $37.89 and a fifty-two 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.

Artisan Partners Asset Management (NYSE:APAM) last released 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 return on equity of 74.02% and a net margin of 23.36%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Artisan Partners Asset Management Inc. will post 3.6 EPS for the current year.

Artisan Partners Asset Management Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.72%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. Artisan Partners Asset Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 92.31%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on APAM. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management from $40.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. TD Cowen lifted their price target on Artisan Partners Asset Management from $41.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price objective on Artisan Partners Asset Management from $53.00 to $51.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 3rd. One research 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, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $44.38.

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.