Insider Selling: Artisan Partners Asset Management Inc. (NYSE:APAM) CFO Sells 15,448 Shares of Stock

Artisan Partners Asset Management Inc. (NYSE:APAM - Get Free Report) CFO Charles J. Daley, Jr. sold 15,448 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.45, for a total value of $624,871.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 91,363 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,695,633.35. This trade represents a 14.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

Artisan Partners Asset Management Stock Performance

APAM stock traded up $0.63 during trading on Monday, hitting $41.35. 288,674 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 495,695. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $38.82 and its 200 day simple moving average is $41.89. 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 cap of $3.32 billion, a PE ratio of 11.36 and a beta of 1.70. Artisan Partners Asset Management Inc. has a 1 year low of $32.75 and a 1 year high of $49.54.

Artisan Partners Asset Management (NYSE:APAM - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The asset manager reported $0.83 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.76 by $0.07. Artisan Partners Asset Management had a return on equity of 74.02% and a net margin of 23.36%. The company had revenue of $277.10 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $281.15 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.76 earnings per share. Artisan Partners Asset Management's quarterly revenue was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that Artisan Partners Asset Management Inc. will post 3.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Artisan Partners Asset Management Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 16th were issued a $0.68 dividend. This represents a $2.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.58%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 16th. Artisan Partners Asset Management's payout ratio is currently 75.14%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

APAM has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on Artisan Partners Asset Management from $43.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Evercore ISI reduced their price objective on Artisan Partners Asset Management from $33.00 to $32.00 and set an "in-line" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. TD Securities raised their price objective on Artisan Partners Asset Management from $35.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. TD Cowen reduced their price objective on Artisan Partners Asset Management from $46.00 to $35.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Artisan Partners Asset Management from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Artisan Partners Asset Management presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $37.90.

Institutional Trading of Artisan Partners Asset Management

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of APAM. Larson Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in Artisan Partners Asset Management by 82.7% in the fourth 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 period. Bessemer Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management by 208.6% in the fourth quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 574 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 388 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management by 110.7% in the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 628 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 330 shares during the last quarter. SVB Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Artisan Partners Asset Management in the first quarter worth approximately $33,000. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of 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 worth $44,000 after acquiring an additional 642 shares during the last quarter. 86.45% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.