Piper Sandler Companies (NYSE:PIPR) Lowered to “Hold” Rating by Wall Street Zen

Piper Sandler Companies (NYSE:PIPR) was downgraded by Wall Street Zen from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note issued on Saturday.

PIPR has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Wolfe Research reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $398.00 target price on shares of Piper Sandler Companies in a research report on Wednesday, January 7th. Zacks Research lowered shares of Piper Sandler Companies from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of Piper Sandler Companies from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $368.00 to $386.00 in a research note on Monday, November 10th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Piper Sandler Companies in a report on Friday, January 23rd. Finally, Bank of America began coverage on Piper Sandler Companies in a report on Monday, January 26th. They set an “underperform” rating and a $385.00 price target for the company. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $389.67.

Piper Sandler Companies Trading Down 0.5%

Shares of PIPR opened at $345.72 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $349.18 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $337.64. Piper Sandler Companies has a 12 month low of $202.91 and a 12 month high of $380.26. The company has a market capitalization of $6.12 billion, a PE ratio of 26.05, a PEG ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 1.54.

Piper Sandler Companies (NYSE:PIPR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 31st. The company reported $3.82 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.96 by $0.86. The company had revenue of $455.31 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $408.40 million. Piper Sandler Companies had a return on equity of 19.91% and a net margin of 13.73%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 33.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.57 earnings per share.

Insider Buying and Selling at Piper Sandler Companies

In other news, CFO Katherine Patricia Clune sold 1,367 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $324.69, for a total value of $443,851.23. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 10,425 shares in the company, valued at $3,384,893.25. This trade represents a 11.59% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Chad R. Abraham sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $336.21, for a total value of $1,008,630.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 53,558 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,006,735.18. This trade represents a 5.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 11,267 shares of company stock valued at $3,763,746. Corporate insiders own 2.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Piper Sandler Companies

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Piper Sandler Companies by 2.2% during the second quarter. Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,410 shares of the company’s stock valued at $392,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. M&T Bank Corp grew its position in Piper Sandler Companies by 3.5% in the 2nd quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 905 shares of the company’s stock valued at $251,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. grew its position in Piper Sandler Companies by 13.8% in the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 288 shares of the company’s stock valued at $80,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares during the period. CWM LLC increased its stake in Piper Sandler Companies by 12.0% during the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 345 shares of the company’s stock valued at $96,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Piper Sandler Companies by 13.4% during the second quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 330 shares of the company’s stock worth $93,000 after buying an additional 39 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.79% of the company’s stock.

About Piper Sandler Companies

Piper Sandler Companies (NYSE: PIPR) is an investment bank and institutional securities firm that provides a range of capital markets and advisory services to corporations, institutions, municipalities and high-net-worth individuals. The firm’s core activities include investment banking and M&A advisory, underwriting and distribution of equity and debt securities, public finance, and sector-focused advisory across industries such as healthcare, energy, financial services and technology.

In addition to traditional investment banking, Piper Sandler offers equity and fixed income research, institutional sales and trading, and market-making services.