Stephens Investment Management Group LLC Boosts Stake in Piper Sandler Companies $PIPR

Key Points

• Stephens Investment Management Group LLC increased its stake in Piper Sandler Companies by 11.6%, owning approximately 279,542 shares worth $77.7 million by the end of the second quarter.
• Piper Sandler announced a quarterly dividend increase to $0.70, up from the previous dividend of $0.65, reflecting a 0.8% dividend yield.
• The company reported strong earnings results, with an EPS of $2.95, surpassing analysts' estimates significantly, and a revenue increase of 13.4% year-over-year.

Stephens Investment Management Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Piper Sandler Companies (NYSE:PIPR - Free Report) by 11.6% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 279,542 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 29,035 shares during the period. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC owned approximately 1.57% of Piper Sandler Companies worth $77,696,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in PIPR. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in shares of Piper Sandler Companies by 58.8% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 440 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $109,000 after purchasing an additional 163 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its holdings in Piper Sandler Companies by 11.9% during the 1st quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 11,742 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,908,000 after buying an additional 1,249 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. lifted its holdings in Piper Sandler Companies by 11.6% during the 1st quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 2,015 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $499,000 after buying an additional 210 shares in the last quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Piper Sandler Companies during the 1st quarter worth approximately $215,000. Finally, Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Piper Sandler Companies by 1.4% during the 1st quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 6,704 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,660,000 after buying an additional 93 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 72.79% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Piper Sandler Companies

In other Piper Sandler Companies news, insider Jonathan J. Doyle sold 3,536 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $316.84, for a total transaction of $1,120,346.24. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 132,910 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $42,111,204.40. This trade represents a 2.59% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, General Counsel John W. Geelan sold 2,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction 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 directly owned 12,645 shares in the company, valued at $4,080,415.05. The trade was a 13.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders 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 Price Performance

NYSE PIPR opened at $333.49 on Wednesday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $339.32. The stock has a market cap of $5.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.14 and a beta of 1.45. Piper Sandler Companies has a 12 month low of $202.91 and a 12 month high of $374.77.

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, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.99 by $0.96. The firm had revenue of $405.39 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $349.40 million. Piper Sandler Companies had a net margin of 13.18% and a return on equity of 18.67%. The company's revenue was up 13.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.52 EPS. As a group, equities 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 was paid on Friday, September 12th. Investors of record on Friday, August 29th were 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 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 23.63%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PIPR has been the topic of a number of research reports. Wolfe Research upgraded 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. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Piper Sandler Companies in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Zacks Research lowered shares of Piper Sandler Companies from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, September 30th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Piper Sandler Companies from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Sunday, October 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $312.50.

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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