PJT Partners (NYSE:PJT) Now Covered by BMO Capital Markets

Key Points

• BMO Capital Markets has initiated coverage of PJT Partners (NYSE:PJT) with a rating of "outperform" and a price target of $205.00, indicating a potential upside of 15.66% from its current price.
• PJT Partners recently reported an EPS of $1.54 for the last quarter, surpassing analysts' expectations and reflecting a 13% increase in revenue year-over-year.
• Insider activity shows significant stock sales, with Director Grace Reksten Skaugen selling 1,504 shares, resulting in a 75% reduction in her ownership stake in the company.

BMO Capital Markets started coverage on shares of PJT Partners (NYSE:PJT - Get Free Report) in a note issued to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage set an "outperform" rating and a $205.00 price target on the financial services provider's stock. BMO Capital Markets' price objective suggests a potential upside of 15.66% from the company's current price.

A number of other brokerages have also commented on PJT. Wolfe Research restated an "underperform" rating on shares of PJT Partners in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on shares of PJT Partners from $161.00 to $199.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Monday, July 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, PJT Partners currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $182.25.

PJT Partners Trading Up 2.0%

Shares of PJT opened at $177.24 on Friday. PJT Partners has a 12 month low of $119.76 and a 12 month high of $190.27. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $180.45 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $160.98. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.45 and a beta of 0.76.

PJT Partners (NYSE:PJT - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The financial services provider reported $1.54 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.36 by $0.18. PJT Partners had a return on equity of 25.61% and a net margin of 10.45%.The business had revenue of $731.09 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $343.11 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.19 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 13.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that PJT Partners will post 6.2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at PJT Partners

In other news, Director Grace Reksten Skaugen sold 1,504 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $176.89, for a total transaction of $266,042.56. Following the sale, the director directly owned 500 shares in the company, valued at $88,445. This represents a 75.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, General Counsel David Adam Travin sold 2,288 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $178.06, for a total transaction of $407,401.28. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 11.75% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Invesco Ltd. grew its position in PJT Partners by 106.7% during the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 520,056 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $85,814,000 after purchasing an additional 268,435 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in shares of PJT Partners during the 1st quarter valued at about $12,587,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in shares of PJT Partners by 18,294.4% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 82,039 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $11,312,000 after purchasing an additional 81,593 shares during the period. Congress Asset Management Co. increased its position in PJT Partners by 19.7% in the first quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. now owns 485,575 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $66,951,000 after buying an additional 79,894 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Schroder Investment Management Group raised its position in shares of PJT Partners by 45.8% during the 2nd quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 210,126 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $34,673,000 after purchasing an additional 66,031 shares during the period. 89.23% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About PJT Partners

PJT Partners Inc, an investment bank, provides various strategic and capital markets advisory, restructuring and special situations, and shareholder advisory services to corporations, financial sponsors, institutional investors, and governments worldwide. It offers advisory services to clients on various transactions, including mergers and acquisitions (M&A), spin-offs, activism defense, contested M&A, joint ventures, minority investments, and divestitures.

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