Azora Capital LP Has $104.55 Million Holdings in Pinnacle Financial Partners, Inc. (NASDAQ:PNFP)

Azora Capital LP lifted its holdings in Pinnacle Financial Partners, Inc. (NASDAQ:PNFP) by 39.2% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 913,936 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 257,347 shares during the period. Pinnacle Financial Partners makes up about 4.7% of Azora Capital LP’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 7th largest position. Azora Capital LP’s holdings in Pinnacle Financial Partners were worth $104,545,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda purchased a new position in shares of Pinnacle Financial Partners during the 4th quarter valued at about $78,000. UMB Bank n.a. raised its stake in Pinnacle Financial Partners by 48.1% during the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 736 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $84,000 after acquiring an additional 239 shares during the period. Principal Securities Inc. lifted its holdings in Pinnacle Financial Partners by 12.7% during the fourth quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 808 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $92,000 after purchasing an additional 91 shares in the last quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont bought a new position in shares of Pinnacle Financial Partners in the fourth quarter worth approximately $97,000. Finally, Values First Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Pinnacle Financial Partners by 189.9% in the fourth quarter. Values First Advisors Inc. now owns 1,458 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $167,000 after purchasing an additional 955 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.40% of the company’s stock.

Pinnacle Financial Partners Trading Up 3.1 %

Shares of PNFP opened at $105.69 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.18 billion, a PE ratio of 17.67 and a beta of 1.00. The company’s fifty day moving average is $101.07 and its 200 day moving average is $112.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a current ratio of 0.90. Pinnacle Financial Partners, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $73.62 and a fifty-two week high of $131.91.

Pinnacle Financial Partners (NASDAQ:PNFP) last announced its earnings results on Monday, April 14th. The financial services provider reported $1.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.82 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $475.37 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $478.11 million. Pinnacle Financial Partners had a net margin of 15.48% and a return on equity of 9.04%. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.53 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Pinnacle Financial Partners, Inc. will post 7.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Pinnacle Financial Partners Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.91%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 2nd. Pinnacle Financial Partners’s dividend payout ratio is currently 15.53%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Pinnacle Financial Partners from $125.00 to $105.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on Pinnacle Financial Partners from $130.00 to $115.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Hovde Group raised Pinnacle Financial Partners from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $111.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Pinnacle Financial Partners from $125.00 to $115.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Pinnacle Financial Partners from $135.00 to $125.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $119.50.

Insider Activity at Pinnacle Financial Partners

In other Pinnacle Financial Partners news, CEO M Terry Turner sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.63, for a total value of $201,260.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 254,552 shares in the company, valued at $25,615,567.76. This represents a 0.78 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Robert A. Mccabe, Jr. sold 40,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $113.81, for a total transaction of $4,552,400.00. Following the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 83,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,446,230. This trade represents a 32.52 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 85,041 shares of company stock worth $10,122,386. Company insiders own 1.46% of the company’s stock.

Pinnacle Financial Partners Profile

Pinnacle Financial Partners, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, operates as the bank holding company for Pinnacle Bank that provides various banking products and services to individuals, businesses, and professional entities in the United States. The company accepts various deposits, including savings, noninterest-bearing and interest-bearing checking, money market, and certificate of deposit accounts; and provides treasury management services, which includes online wire origination, enhanced ACH origination services, positive pay, zero balance and sweep accounts, automated bill pay services, electronic receivables processing, lockbox processing, and merchant card acceptance services.