ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. Takes Position in Piper Sandler Companies $PIPR

ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. purchased a new stake in Piper Sandler Companies (NYSE:PIPR) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 900 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $250,000.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in PIPR. von Borstel & Associates Inc. bought a new position in shares of Piper Sandler Companies during the 1st quarter valued at about $27,000. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its stake in Piper Sandler Companies by 495.2% during the 1st quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 125 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 104 shares in the last quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc raised its holdings in Piper Sandler Companies by 48.1% during the 2nd quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 114 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 37 shares during the period. Wealth Preservation Advisors LLC bought a new position in Piper Sandler Companies in the first quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Finally, Geneos Wealth Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Piper Sandler Companies by 46.6% in the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 170 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 54 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.79% of the company’s stock.

Piper Sandler Companies Price Performance

NYSE PIPR opened at $341.75 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $6.05 billion, a PE ratio of 28.84 and a beta of 1.45. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $335.52. Piper Sandler Companies has a 52 week low of $202.91 and a 52 week high of $374.77.

Piper Sandler Companies (NYSE:PIPR) last issued 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 firm 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 business’s quarterly revenue was up 13.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.52 earnings per share. 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 company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 12th. Investors of record on Friday, August 29th were paid 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 dividend yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 29th. Piper Sandler Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 23.63%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently commented on PIPR. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Piper Sandler Companies in a report on Saturday, September 27th. Wall Street Zen cut Piper Sandler Companies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday. Zacks Research lowered Piper Sandler Companies from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 30th. Finally, Wolfe Research raised Piper Sandler Companies from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $339.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Piper Sandler Companies currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $312.50.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Scott C. Taylor sold 2,600 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $319.86, for a total transaction of $831,636.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 16,319 shares in the company, valued at $5,219,795.34. The trade was a 13.74% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Chad R. Abraham sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $319.33, for a total transaction of $3,193,300.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 53,558 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,102,676.14. The trade was a 15.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 26,136 shares of company stock valued at $8,380,342 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 2.70% of the company’s stock.

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.