First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. Has $739,000 Holdings in Piper Sandler Companies $PIPR

Key Points

• First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. increased its holdings in Piper Sandler Companies by 195.3% during Q2, owning 2,658 shares valued at $739,000.
• Analysts have mixed views on Piper Sandler, with Wolfe Research upgrading the stock to "outperform" and setting a price target of $339.00, while Zacks downgraded it to "hold".
• Piper Sandler recently declared a quarterly dividend increase from $0.65 to $0.70 per share, indicating a steady commitment to returning value to shareholders.

First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. raised its position in shares of Piper Sandler Companies (NYSE:PIPR - Free Report) by 195.3% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,658 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 1,758 shares during the period. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co.'s holdings in Piper Sandler Companies were worth $739,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in Piper Sandler Companies during the 1st quarter worth approximately $49,826,000. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. increased its position in Piper Sandler Companies by 35.0% during the 1st quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 357,167 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $88,456,000 after buying an additional 92,527 shares during the period. MetLife Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Piper Sandler Companies by 384.7% during the first quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 50,637 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $12,541,000 after buying an additional 40,190 shares in the last quarter. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Piper Sandler Companies by 16.8% in the first quarter. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC now owns 250,507 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $62,041,000 after acquiring an additional 35,953 shares during the period. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Piper Sandler Companies by 31.7% in the first quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 78,128 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $19,349,000 after acquiring an additional 18,787 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.79% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have weighed in on the stock. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Piper Sandler Companies from a "peer perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $339.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Piper Sandler Companies from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Sunday, October 12th. Zacks Research cut Piper Sandler Companies from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 30th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Piper Sandler Companies in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Piper Sandler Companies presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $312.50.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Jonathan J. Doyle sold 3,536 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $316.84, for a total value of $1,120,346.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 132,910 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $42,111,204.40. This represents a 2.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Chad R. Abraham sold 8,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 6th. The shares were 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 owned 53,558 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,337,260.18. The trade was a 13.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 26,136 shares of company stock valued at $8,380,342 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 2.70% of the company's stock.

Piper Sandler Companies Price Performance

NYSE PIPR opened at $349.67 on Friday. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $339.89. The firm has a market cap of $6.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.51 and a beta of 1.45. Piper Sandler Companies has a 1 year low of $202.91 and a 1 year high of $374.77.

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

Piper Sandler Companies Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 12th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 29th were issued a dividend of $0.70 per share. This is an increase from Piper Sandler Companies's previous quarterly dividend of $0.65. 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%. Piper Sandler Companies's payout ratio is presently 23.63%.

About Piper Sandler Companies

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.

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