Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. Decreases Stake in Piper Sandler Companies $PIPR

Key Points

• Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. reduced its stake in Piper Sandler Companies by 1.9%, selling 3,856 shares during the first quarter, holding a total of 201,073 shares valued at approximately $49.8 million.
• Several institutional investors increased their positions in Piper Sandler, with Westwood Holdings Group raising its stake by 35%, while LPL Financial boosted its position by 26.2% during the same period.
• Piper Sandler Companies recently announced a quarterly dividend increase to $0.70 per share, marking a rise from the previous $0.65 dividend, with a payout ratio of 21.94%.

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Piper Sandler Companies (NYSE:PIPR - Free Report) by 1.9% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 201,073 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 3,856 shares during the quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. owned approximately 1.13% of Piper Sandler Companies worth $49,798,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Piper Sandler Companies during the first quarter worth approximately $215,000. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in Piper Sandler Companies by 1.4% during the first quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 6,704 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,660,000 after purchasing an additional 93 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in Piper Sandler Companies by 58.8% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 440 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $109,000 after purchasing an additional 163 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its holdings in Piper Sandler Companies by 0.6% during the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 156,751 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $38,821,000 after purchasing an additional 992 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. raised its holdings in Piper Sandler Companies by 11.6% during the first quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 2,015 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $499,000 after purchasing an additional 210 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.79% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PIPR has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Piper Sandler Companies from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, August 9th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a "market perform" rating on shares of Piper Sandler Companies in a report on Monday, May 5th. Finally, Wolfe Research raised shares of Piper Sandler Companies from a "peer perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $339.00 target price on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Piper Sandler Companies currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $312.50.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Scott C. Taylor sold 2,600 shares of Piper Sandler Companies stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $319.86, for a total value of $831,636.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 16,319 shares in the company, valued at $5,219,795.34. This trade represents a 13.74% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Chad R. Abraham sold 10,000 shares of Piper Sandler Companies stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $319.33, for a total transaction of $3,193,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 53,558 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,102,676.14. This trade represents a 15.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 26,136 shares of company stock valued at $8,380,342. Corporate insiders own 2.70% of the company's stock.

Piper Sandler Companies Trading Down 0.7%

NYSE:PIPR traded down $2.3650 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $319.6950. The stock had a trading volume of 67,735 shares, compared to its average volume of 154,262. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $301.10. Piper Sandler Companies has a 12-month low of $202.91 and a 12-month high of $351.80. The stock has a market cap of $5.66 billion, a PE ratio of 26.98 and a beta of 1.50.

Piper Sandler Companies (NYSE:PIPR - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, August 1st. The financial services provider reported $2.95 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.99 by $0.96. Piper Sandler Companies had a net margin of 13.18% and a return on equity of 18.67%. The firm had revenue of $405.39 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $349.40 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.52 EPS. Piper Sandler Companies's quarterly revenue was up 13.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect 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 given a $0.70 dividend. This is a positive change from Piper Sandler Companies's previous quarterly dividend of $0.65. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 29th. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.9%. Piper Sandler Companies's payout ratio is 21.94%.

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.