Artisan Partners Asset Management Inc. (NYSE:APAM) Sees Significant Decline in Short Interest

Artisan Partners Asset Management Inc. (NYSE:APAM) was the target of a significant decline in short interest in the month of 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. Approximately 2.9% of the company’s shares are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 518,200 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 4.0 days.

Artisan Partners Asset Management Price Performance

Shares of APAM traded up $0.56 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $39.66. The company had a trading volume of 366,657 shares, compared to its average volume of 444,460. 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 company has a market capitalization of $3.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.89 and a beta of 1.83. Artisan Partners Asset Management has a twelve month low of $37.89 and a twelve month high of $49.54. The company’s 50-day moving average is $42.42 and its 200-day moving average is $43.95.

Artisan Partners Asset Management (NYSE:APAM) last posted its earnings results 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, equities analysts anticipate that Artisan Partners Asset Management will post 3.6 EPS for the current year.

Artisan Partners Asset Management Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.04%. Artisan Partners Asset Management’s dividend payout ratio is 92.31%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Artisan Partners Asset Management

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Intech Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Artisan Partners Asset Management during the 3rd quarter worth $570,000. Citigroup Inc. boosted its position in shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management by 54.4% in the 3rd quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 90,298 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $3,912,000 after purchasing an additional 31,803 shares during the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management during the 3rd quarter worth about $661,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its stake in Artisan Partners Asset Management by 23.0% in the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 36,339 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,574,000 after purchasing an additional 6,792 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Glenmede Trust Co. NA increased its position in shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management by 14.8% in the 3rd quarter. Glenmede Trust Co. NA now owns 10,168 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $440,000 after buying an additional 1,307 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.45% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on APAM. StockNews.com upgraded Artisan Partners Asset Management from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a 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 report on Monday, February 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Artisan Partners Asset Management has a consensus 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.