LPL Financial LLC Increases Holdings in Piper Sandler Companies $PIPR

Key Points

• LPL Financial LLC increased its holdings in Piper Sandler Companies by 26.2% in the first quarter, owning a total of 7,088 shares valued at approximately $1.76 million.
• Piper Sandler reported a quarterly earnings per share of $2.95, significantly exceeding the analysts' consensus estimate of $1.99, with a year-over-year revenue increase of 13.4%.
• The company announced a dividend increase to $0.70 per share, up from the previous $0.65, reflecting a growing commitment to returning value to shareholders.

LPL Financial LLC increased its stake in shares of Piper Sandler Companies (NYSE:PIPR - Free Report) by 26.2% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 7,088 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 1,471 shares during the quarter. LPL Financial LLC's holdings in Piper Sandler Companies were worth $1,755,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. GW&K Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Piper Sandler Companies by 0.8% during the 1st quarter. GW&K Investment Management LLC now owns 323,483 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $80,114,000 after purchasing an additional 2,620 shares during the last quarter. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Piper Sandler Companies by 16.8% during the 1st quarter. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC now owns 250,507 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $62,041,000 after purchasing an additional 35,953 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in shares of Piper Sandler Companies by 9.4% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 200,005 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $59,991,000 after purchasing an additional 17,120 shares during the last quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP raised its stake in Piper Sandler Companies by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP now owns 199,842 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $59,943,000 after buying an additional 3,500 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its stake in Piper Sandler Companies by 0.6% in the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 156,751 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $38,821,000 after buying an additional 992 shares during the last quarter. 72.79% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Piper Sandler Companies news, General Counsel John W. Geelan sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $322.69, for a total transaction of $645,380.00. Following the transaction, the general counsel owned 12,645 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,080,415.05. This represents a 13.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jonathan J. Doyle sold 3,536 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $316.84, for a total value of $1,120,346.24. Following the transaction, the insider owned 132,910 shares in the company, valued at $42,111,204.40. This represents a 2.59% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 26,136 shares of company stock valued at $8,380,342 in the last three months. 2.70% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. Wolfe Research upgraded Piper Sandler Companies from a "peer perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $339.00 price target for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Piper Sandler Companies from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 9th. Finally, JMP Securities reiterated a "market perform" rating on shares of Piper Sandler Companies in a research note on Monday, May 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $312.50.

Piper Sandler Companies Price Performance

Piper Sandler Companies stock traded up $4.52 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $338.95. 145,704 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 151,558. The company has a market cap of $6.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.60 and a beta of 1.50. Piper Sandler Companies has a fifty-two week low of $202.91 and a fifty-two week high of $351.80. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $306.06.

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

Piper Sandler Companies Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 12th. Investors of record on Friday, August 29th will be issued a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a 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 is Friday, August 29th. Piper Sandler Companies's dividend payout ratio is 21.94%.

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.