Axiom Investors LLC DE Cuts Stake in Piper Sandler Companies $PIPR

Key Points

• Axiom Investors LLC DE reduced its stake in Piper Sandler Companies by 35.8%, holding 35,799 shares worth approximately $8.87 million after selling 19,971 shares in the last quarter.
• Wall Street analysts have mixed ratings for Piper Sandler Companies, with one firm upgrading it to "outperform" and another lowering its rating to "hold," reflecting a consensus target price of $312.50.
• Piper Sandler Companies announced an increase in its quarterly dividend to $0.70 per share, payable on September 12, which marks a rise from its previous $0.65 dividend.

Axiom Investors LLC DE trimmed its position in Piper Sandler Companies (NYSE:PIPR - Free Report) by 35.8% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 35,799 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 19,971 shares during the quarter. Axiom Investors LLC DE owned 0.20% of Piper Sandler Companies worth $8,866,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in PIPR. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB increased its stake in shares of Piper Sandler Companies by 131.9% in the first quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 109 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 62 shares during the period. von Borstel & Associates Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Piper Sandler Companies in the first quarter worth $27,000. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Piper Sandler Companies by 495.2% in the first quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 125 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 104 shares during the period. Wealth Preservation Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Piper Sandler Companies in the first quarter worth $37,000. Finally, Park Square Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Piper Sandler Companies in the fourth quarter worth $45,000. 72.79% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PIPR has been the topic of several analyst reports. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Piper Sandler Companies from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 30th. Wolfe Research raised shares of Piper Sandler Companies from a "peer perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $339.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $312.50.

Insider Buying and Selling at Piper Sandler Companies

In other news, Director Scott C. Taylor sold 2,600 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $319.86, for a total value of $831,636.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 16,319 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,219,795.34. This represents a 13.74% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Chad R. Abraham sold 8,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $323.71, for a total transaction of $2,589,680.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 53,558 shares in the company, valued at $17,337,260.18. This represents a 13.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 26,136 shares of company stock valued at $8,380,342 over the last 90 days. 2.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Piper Sandler Companies Price Performance

Piper Sandler Companies stock traded down $0.52 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $346.17. 151,632 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 100,299. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $321.40. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.21 and a beta of 1.45. Piper Sandler Companies has a 52-week low of $202.91 and a 52-week high of $351.80.

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

Piper Sandler Companies Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 12th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 29th were given a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 29th. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.8%. This is a boost from Piper Sandler Companies's previous quarterly dividend of $0.65. Piper Sandler Companies's payout ratio is currently 23.63%.

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.