Piper Sandler Companies $PIPR Shares Sold by Russell Investments Group Ltd.

Key Points

• Russell Investments Group Ltd. reduced its holdings in Piper Sandler Companies by 38.7% in the first quarter, owning 13,431 shares after selling 8,469 shares.
• Piper Sandler recently announced a quarterly dividend increase from $0.65 to $0.70 per share, scheduled for payment on September 12th.
• In recent earnings, Piper Sandler reported $2.95 EPS, exceeding analysts' expectations by $0.96, with revenue of $405.39 million for the quarter.

Russell Investments Group Ltd. cut its stake in shares of Piper Sandler Companies (NYSE:PIPR - Free Report) by 38.7% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 13,431 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 8,469 shares during the quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. owned 0.08% of Piper Sandler Companies worth $3,327,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of PIPR. Parallel Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Piper Sandler Companies by 28.6% in the first quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 216 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $53,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares during the period. Lido Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Piper Sandler Companies by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Lido Advisors LLC now owns 4,185 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,255,000 after acquiring an additional 49 shares during the period. M&T Bank Corp lifted its holdings in Piper Sandler Companies by 6.6% in the first quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 874 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $217,000 after acquiring an additional 54 shares during the period. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV lifted its holdings in Piper Sandler Companies by 4.2% in 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 acquiring an additional 56 shares during the period. Finally, MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB lifted its holdings in 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 valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 62 shares during the period. 72.79% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on PIPR shares. Wall Street Zen raised Piper Sandler Companies from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 9th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a "market perform" rating on shares of Piper Sandler Companies in a research note on Monday, May 5th. Finally, Wolfe Research raised 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. One research 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, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $312.50.

Piper Sandler Companies Trading Down 1.5%

PIPR traded down $4.95 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $333.48. The company's stock had a trading volume of 96,564 shares, compared to its average volume of 145,112. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.14 and a beta of 1.50. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $310.97. 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 posted its quarterly earnings results 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 return on equity of 18.67% and a net margin of 13.18%.The firm's revenue was up 13.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.52 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Piper Sandler Companies will post 14.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Piper Sandler Companies Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 29th will be given a $0.70 dividend. This is a boost from Piper Sandler Companies's previous quarterly dividend of $0.65. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 29th. Piper Sandler Companies's dividend payout ratio is 21.94%.

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 on Monday, August 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $322.69, for a total value of $645,380.00. Following the sale, the general counsel directly owned 12,645 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,080,415.05. This trade represents a 13.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Chad R. Abraham sold 8,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $323.71, for a total value of $2,589,680.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 53,558 shares in the company, valued at $17,337,260.18. This trade 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 three months. Corporate insiders own 2.70% of the company's stock.

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.