Blue Trust Inc. Purchases 35 Shares of Piper Sandler Companies $PIPR

Blue Trust Inc. raised its position in shares of Piper Sandler Companies (NYSE:PIPR) by 13.8% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 288 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 35 shares during the quarter. Blue Trust Inc.’s holdings in Piper Sandler Companies were worth $80,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System increased its stake in Piper Sandler Companies by 2.4% during the 2nd quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System now owns 4,829 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,342,000 after purchasing an additional 111 shares in the last quarter. Fluent Financial LLC bought a new stake in Piper Sandler Companies during the 2nd quarter valued at about $1,755,000. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System increased its stake in Piper Sandler Companies by 1.3% during the 2nd quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 7,700 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,140,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS increased its stake in Piper Sandler Companies by 8.8% during the 2nd quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS now owns 3,700 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,028,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. Finally, ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. bought a new stake in Piper Sandler Companies during the 2nd quarter valued at about $250,000. 72.79% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Piper Sandler Companies

In other news, CEO Chad R. Abraham sold 8,000 shares of Piper Sandler Companies stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $323.71, for a total transaction of $2,589,680.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 53,558 shares in the company, valued at $17,337,260.18. This trade represents a 13.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Jonathan J. Doyle sold 3,536 shares of Piper Sandler Companies stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $316.84, for a total transaction of $1,120,346.24. Following the sale, the insider owned 132,910 shares in the company, valued at approximately $42,111,204.40. The trade was a 2.59% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 26,136 shares of company stock worth $8,380,342. 2.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PIPR has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Piper Sandler Companies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Sunday, October 12th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Piper Sandler Companies in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Piper Sandler Companies from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 30th. Finally, Wolfe Research raised shares of Piper Sandler Companies from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $339.00 price target on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $312.50.

Piper Sandler Companies Stock Performance

NYSE PIPR opened at $327.39 on Friday. Piper Sandler Companies has a 12 month low of $202.91 and a 12 month high of $374.77. The company has a market cap of $5.79 billion, a PE ratio of 27.63 and a beta of 1.45. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $339.27.

Piper Sandler Companies (NYSE:PIPR) last released its earnings results on Friday, August 1st. The financial services provider reported $2.95 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.99 by $0.96. Piper Sandler Companies had a net margin of 13.18% and a return on equity of 18.67%. The company had revenue of $405.39 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $349.40 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.52 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 13.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Piper Sandler Companies will post 14.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Piper Sandler Companies Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 12th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 29th were given a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 29th. This is an increase from Piper Sandler Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.65. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.9%. Piper Sandler Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 23.63%.

Piper Sandler Companies Company Profile

Piper Sandler Companies operates as an investment bank and institutional securities firm that serves corporations, private equity groups, public entities, non-profit entities, and institutional investors in the United States and internationally. It offers investment banking services and institutional sales, trading, and research services for various equity and fixed income products; advisory services, such as mergers and acquisitions, equity and debt private placements, and debt and restructuring advisory; raises capital through equity and debt financings; underwrites municipal issuances; and municipal financial advisory and loan placement services, as well as various over-the-counter derivative products.