PJT Partners (NYSE:PJT) Stock Rating Reaffirmed as "Market Perform" by Keefe, Bruyette & Woods

Key Points

• Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed a “Market Perform” rating on PJT Partners but lowered its price target from $195 to $159, implying 13.75% potential upside. Analysts overall have a consensus “Hold” rating and an average target of $170.
• PJT Partners reported stronger-than-expected quarterly results, with EPS of $1.97 versus a $1.57 estimate and revenue of $486.29 million, up 19.5% year over year.
• The stock opened at $139.78, while insiders have sold nearly $2.1 million worth of shares over the past 90 days; institutional investors own 89.23% of the company.

PJT Partners (NYSE:PJT - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "market perform" rating reaffirmed by equities research analysts at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. They presently have a $159.00 price target on the financial services provider's stock, down from their prior price target of $195.00. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods' price target would indicate a potential upside of 13.75% from the stock's current price.

A number of other research firms have also recently commented on PJT. UBS Group reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $165.00 price target on shares of PJT Partners in a report on Wednesday. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "hold (c)" rating on shares of PJT Partners in a research report on Wednesday, August 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price target on PJT Partners from $203.00 to $182.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 1st. Zacks Research raised PJT Partners from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, June 29th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of PJT Partners in a research note on Tuesday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, PJT Partners has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $170.00.

PJT Partners Stock Up 1.3%

PJT stock opened at $139.78 on Wednesday. The company's 50-day moving average price is $165.57 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $158.37. PJT Partners has a 12 month low of $127.73 and a 12 month high of $195.62. The firm has a market cap of $3.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.12 and a beta of 0.89.

PJT Partners (NYSE:PJT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 28th. The financial services provider reported $1.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.57 by $0.40. PJT Partners had a net margin of 10.57% and a return on equity of 32.66%. The business had revenue of $486.29 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $425.28 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.54 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 19.5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that PJT Partners will post 8 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at PJT Partners

In other PJT Partners news, Director James Costos sold 1,723 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.00, for a total transaction of $301,525.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 11,289 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,975,575. The trade was a 13.24% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Kievdi Cornwell sold 7,845 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $173.48, for a total value of $1,360,950.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 18,865 shares in the company, valued at $3,272,700.20. This represents a 29.37% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 11,951 shares of company stock worth $2,061,681. 10.98% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of PJT Partners

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in PJT. Congress Asset Management Co. grew its position in PJT Partners by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. now owns 728,580 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $103,976,000 after purchasing an additional 5,106 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of PJT Partners during the second quarter valued at approximately $412,000. Tidal Investments LLC lifted its holdings in PJT Partners by 3.6% during the second quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 119,193 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $17,991,000 after acquiring an additional 4,147 shares during the period. WINTON GROUP Ltd bought a new position in PJT Partners in the 2nd quarter valued at $4,604,000. Finally, Squarepoint Ops LLC grew its stake in PJT Partners by 619.0% in the 2nd quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 157,151 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $23,720,000 after purchasing an additional 135,294 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 89.23% of the company's stock.

PJT Partners Company Profile

PJT Partners Inc NYSE: PJT is a global, independent investment banking and advisory firm that provides strategic, restructuring and private capital advisory services to corporations, financial sponsors, institutional investors and other organizations.

The company advises clients on mergers and acquisitions, divestitures, strategic transactions, shareholder activism and other corporate matters. Its restructuring and capital solutions business provides advice on financial restructuring, liability management, distressed situations and related capital structure issues.

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