Artisan Partners Asset Management (NYSE:APAM) Trading Down 5% Following Weak Earnings

Artisan Partners Asset Management Inc. (NYSE:APAM)’s stock price traded down 5% on Wednesday following a dissappointing earnings announcement. The stock traded as low as $41.11 and last traded at $41.25. 77,984 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 84% from the average session volume of 474,798 shares. The stock had previously closed at $43.43.

The asset manager reported $0.76 earnings per share 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 analysts’ expectations of $270.90 million. Artisan Partners Asset Management had a net margin of 22.80% and a return on equity of 73.85%. Artisan Partners Asset Management’s quarterly revenue was up 12.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.64 earnings per share.

Artisan Partners Asset Management Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a None dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 29th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 15th were issued a dividend of $1.02 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 14th. This is a positive change from Artisan Partners Asset Management’s previous None dividend of $0.65. This represents a dividend yield of 5.5%. Artisan Partners Asset Management’s payout ratio is 86.08%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. TD Cowen assumed coverage on shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management in a report on Thursday, January 4th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $41.00 price objective on the stock. StockNews.com raised shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday, March 17th.

Insider Activity at Artisan Partners Asset Management

In related news, EVP Gregory K. Ramirez sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.28, for a total transaction of $105,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 83,335 shares in the company, valued at $3,523,403.80. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 18.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Private Trust Co. NA raised its position in shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management by 458.3% in the third quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 670 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 550 shares during the period. Mather Group LLC. acquired a new position in shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management in the first quarter worth about $26,000. Allworth Financial LP raised its position in shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management by 716.0% in the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 612 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 537 shares during the period. Quadrant Capital Group LLC raised its position in shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management by 70.3% during the 4th quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 642 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 265 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Securities Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management during the 4th quarter worth about $31,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.45% of the company’s stock.

Artisan Partners Asset Management Stock Performance

The company has a current ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $43.70 and its two-hundred day moving average is $41.00. The stock has a market cap of $3.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.35 and a beta of 1.85.

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.