Teacher Retirement System of Texas Increases Stake in Artisan Partners Asset Management Inc. (NYSE:APAM)

Teacher Retirement System of Texas lifted its stake in Artisan Partners Asset Management Inc. (NYSE:APAM) by 6.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 164,039 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 10,120 shares during the quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas’ holdings in Artisan Partners Asset Management were worth $7,062,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Larson Financial Group LLC raised its position in shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management by 82.7% in the 4th quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 581 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 263 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in 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 last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its position in Artisan Partners Asset Management by 166.8% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,027 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $44,000 after buying an additional 642 shares during the last quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in Artisan Partners Asset Management during the 4th quarter worth approximately $57,000. Finally, R Squared Ltd purchased a new position in Artisan Partners Asset Management during the 4th quarter worth approximately $62,000. 86.45% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

APAM has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. StockNews.com raised shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price target on shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management from $53.00 to $51.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $44.38.

Artisan Partners Asset Management Price Performance

NYSE:APAM opened at $40.24 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 0.56 and a quick ratio of 0.73. The firm has a market cap of $3.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.05 and a beta of 1.83. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $42.71 and a 200-day moving average price of $43.94. Artisan Partners Asset Management Inc. has a 1-year low of $37.89 and a 1-year high of $49.54.

Artisan Partners Asset Management (NYSE:APAM) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The asset manager reported $1.05 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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%. Equities research analysts forecast 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.97%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. Artisan Partners Asset Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 92.31%.

Artisan Partners Asset Management 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.