Short Interest in Artisan Partners Asset Management Inc. (NYSE:APAM) Rises By 5.1%

Artisan Partners Asset Management Inc. (NYSE:APAM) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest in April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totalling 3,110,000 shares, a growth of 5.1% from the March 31st total of 2,960,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 473,500 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 6.6 days.

Artisan Partners Asset Management Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of APAM stock opened at $40.84 on Thursday. Artisan Partners Asset Management has a fifty-two week low of $31.27 and a fifty-two week high of $46.75. The stock has a market cap of $3.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.51 and a beta of 1.85. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $43.66 and a 200-day simple moving average of $41.20. The company has a quick ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 0.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56.

Artisan Partners Asset Management (NYSE:APAM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 24th. The asset manager reported $0.76 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.79 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $264.40 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $270.90 million. Artisan Partners Asset Management had a net margin of 22.99% and a return on equity of 72.77%. The firm’s revenue was up 12.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.64 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Artisan Partners Asset Management will post 3.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Artisan Partners Asset Management Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 31st. Investors of record on Friday, May 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.61 per share. This represents a $2.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.97%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 16th. Artisan Partners Asset Management’s payout ratio is currently 82.93%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on APAM. TD Cowen began coverage on Artisan Partners Asset Management in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $41.00 price target for the company. StockNews.com upgraded Artisan Partners Asset Management from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, March 17th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Artisan Partners Asset Management news, EVP Gregory K. Ramirez sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.28, for a total value of $105,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 83,335 shares in the company, valued at $3,523,403.80. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 18.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Artisan Partners Asset Management

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. AlphaMark Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management by 4.0% during the fourth quarter. AlphaMark Advisors LLC now owns 6,736 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $298,000 after acquiring an additional 261 shares during the last quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC boosted its stake in Artisan Partners Asset Management by 70.3% in the 4th quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 642 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 265 shares during the last quarter. Dana Investment Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Artisan Partners Asset Management by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Dana Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 58,095 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,174,000 after buying an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC boosted its stake in Artisan Partners Asset Management by 19.0% in the 1st quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 2,064 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $94,000 after buying an additional 329 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Commonwealth Equity Services LLC boosted its stake in Artisan Partners Asset Management by 5.2% in the 3rd quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 8,097 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $303,000 after buying an additional 397 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.45% of the company’s stock.

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.