Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd Makes New $269,000 Investment in Artisan Partners Asset Management Inc. (NYSE:APAM)

Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management Inc. (NYSE:APAM) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 6,251 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $269,000.

Several other hedge funds 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 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 lifted its holdings in shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management by 110.7% during the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 628 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 330 shares during the period. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Artisan Partners Asset Management by 166.8% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,027 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $44,000 after buying an additional 642 shares during the last quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in Artisan Partners Asset Management in 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 institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective on shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management from $53.00 to $51.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 3rd. StockNews.com raised Artisan Partners Asset Management from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. 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 data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $44.38.

Artisan Partners Asset Management Price Performance

NYSE:APAM opened at $34.67 on Tuesday. 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 50 day moving average price of $41.83 and a 200-day moving average price of $43.80. Artisan Partners Asset Management Inc. has a 1-year low of $32.75 and a 1-year high of $49.54. The firm has a market cap of $2.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.52 and a beta of 1.80.

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 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%. 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 firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.77%. 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.