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

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB increased its position in Piper Sandler Companies by 131.9% during the 1st 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 in the last quarter. von Borstel & Associates Inc. purchased a new stake in Piper Sandler Companies during the 1st quarter valued at $27,000. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in Piper Sandler Companies by 495.2% during the 1st quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 125 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 104 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Preservation Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Piper Sandler Companies during the 1st quarter valued at $37,000. Finally, Park Square Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Piper Sandler Companies in the 4th quarter worth $45,000. Institutional investors own 72.79% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PIPR has been the topic of several analyst reports. 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 report on Thursday, July 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $312.50.

Insider Transactions at Piper Sandler Companies

In related news, General Counsel John W. Geelan sold 2,000 shares of Piper Sandler Companies stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $322.69, for a total value of $645,380.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel owned 12,645 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,080,415.05. This trade represents a 13.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 53,558 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $17,337,260.18. This represents a 13.00% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 26,136 shares of company stock valued at $8,380,342. 2.70% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Piper Sandler Companies Stock Up 4.2%

Shares of PIPR stock traded up $14.81 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $369.16. The stock had a trading volume of 175,524 shares, compared to its average volume of 116,793. Piper Sandler Companies has a one year low of $202.91 and a one year high of $370.16. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $326.46. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.53 billion, a PE ratio of 31.15 and a beta of 1.45.

Piper Sandler Companies (NYSE:PIPR - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Friday, August 1st. The financial services provider reported $2.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $349.40 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.52 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 13.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that Piper Sandler Companies will post 14.14 EPS for the current year.

Piper Sandler Companies Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 12th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 29th were issued a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend 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 payout ratio is presently 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.