Amundi Trims Stake in Piper Sandler Companies $PIPR

Key Points

• Amundi Investment Management reduced its stake in Piper Sandler Companies by 18.9%, selling 1,554 shares, which leaves them with 6,648 shares valued at approximately $1.53 million.
• Piper Sandler Companies recently reported earnings of $2.95 per share for the last quarter, significantly exceeding analysts' expectations of $1.99, and demonstrating a year-over-year revenue increase of 13.4%.
• The company announced a dividend increase from $0.65 to $0.70 per share, reflecting a commitment to returning value to shareholders with a current annualized yield of 0.8%.

Amundi lowered its stake in shares of Piper Sandler Companies (NYSE:PIPR - Free Report) by 18.9% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 6,648 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 1,554 shares during the quarter. Amundi's holdings in Piper Sandler Companies were worth $1,529,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB lifted its position in shares of Piper Sandler Companies by 131.9% during the first quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 109 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 62 shares during the last quarter. von Borstel & Associates Inc. bought a new position in shares of Piper Sandler Companies during the 1st quarter worth approximately $27,000. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its position in Piper Sandler Companies by 495.2% during the first quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 125 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 104 shares during the last quarter. Park Square Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in Piper Sandler Companies in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $45,000. Finally, Wealth Preservation Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Piper Sandler Companies in the first quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 72.79% of the company's stock.

Piper Sandler Companies Price Performance

Shares of Piper Sandler Companies stock traded down $4.30 on Tuesday, reaching $345.34. 181,799 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 141,491. Piper Sandler Companies has a twelve month low of $202.91 and a twelve month high of $352.34. The company has a market capitalization of $6.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.14 and a beta of 1.45. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $322.61.

Piper Sandler Companies (NYSE:PIPR - Get Free Report) 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 return on equity of 18.67% and a net margin of 13.18%.The firm had revenue of $405.39 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $349.40 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.52 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 13.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that Piper Sandler Companies will post 14.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Piper Sandler Companies Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 12th. Investors of record on Friday, August 29th were issued a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.8%. This is a positive change from Piper Sandler Companies's previous quarterly dividend of $0.65. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 29th. Piper Sandler Companies's dividend payout ratio is presently 23.63%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on PIPR. Wall Street Zen downgraded Piper Sandler Companies from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 30th. Wolfe Research upgraded Piper Sandler Companies from a "peer perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $339.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Piper Sandler Companies has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $312.50.

Insider Transactions at Piper Sandler Companies

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

Piper Sandler Companies 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.