Cetera Investment Advisers Increases Stake in Piper Sandler Companies $PIPR

Cetera Investment Advisers raised its holdings in Piper Sandler Companies (NYSE:PIPR - Free Report) by 65.1% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,480 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 1,372 shares during the period. Cetera Investment Advisers' holdings in Piper Sandler Companies were worth $862,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Parallel Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Piper Sandler Companies by 28.6% during the first quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 216 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $53,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. Lido Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Piper Sandler Companies by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Lido Advisors LLC now owns 4,185 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,255,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. M&T Bank Corp lifted its position in shares of Piper Sandler Companies by 6.6% during the first quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 874 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $217,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares in the last quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV lifted its position in shares of Piper Sandler Companies by 4.2% during the fourth quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 1,394 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $418,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares in the last quarter. Finally, 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 purchasing an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. 72.79% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Piper Sandler Companies Stock Performance

NYSE:PIPR traded down $1.25 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $324.60. 15,895 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 144,446. The firm's 50-day moving average is $296.22. The company has a market cap of $5.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.39 and a beta of 1.50. Piper Sandler Companies has a 12-month low of $202.91 and a 12-month high of $351.80.

Piper Sandler Companies (NYSE:PIPR - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, August 1st. The financial services provider reported $2.95 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.99 by $0.96. The company had revenue of $405.39 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $349.40 million. Piper Sandler Companies had a net margin of 13.18% and a return on equity of 18.67%. Piper Sandler Companies's revenue for the quarter was up 13.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.52 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Piper Sandler Companies will post 14.14 EPS for the current year.

Piper Sandler Companies Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 12th. Investors of record on Friday, August 29th will be paid a dividend of $0.70 per share. This is an increase from Piper Sandler Companies's previous quarterly dividend of $0.65. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 29th. Piper Sandler Companies's dividend payout ratio is presently 21.94%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Scott C. Taylor sold 2,600 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $319.86, for a total transaction of $831,636.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 16,319 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,219,795.34. The trade was a 13.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, General Counsel John W. Geelan sold 2,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $322.69, for a total transaction of $645,380.00. Following the transaction, the general counsel directly owned 12,645 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,080,415.05. This represents a 13.66% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 26,136 shares of company stock worth $8,380,342 in the last three months. Insiders own 2.70% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on PIPR. JMP Securities reissued a "market perform" rating on shares of Piper Sandler Companies in a research report on Monday, May 5th. 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 research report on Thursday, July 10th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Piper Sandler Companies from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 9th.

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.