Piper Sandler Companies (NYSE:PIPR) Raised to “Buy” at Wall Street Zen

Piper Sandler Companies (NYSE:PIPR) was upgraded by stock analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report issued on Tuesday.

Several other brokerages have also commented on PIPR. Zacks Research raised Piper Sandler Companies from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 10th. Wolfe Research reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $398.00 target price on shares of Piper Sandler Companies in a research report on Wednesday, January 7th. Bank of America started coverage on shares of Piper Sandler Companies in a research note on Monday, January 26th. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $385.00 price target for the company. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Piper Sandler Companies in a research report on Friday, January 23rd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Piper Sandler Companies from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $368.00 to $386.00 in a research report on Monday, November 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $389.67.

Piper Sandler Companies Trading Up 0.5%

Shares of NYSE:PIPR opened at $311.75 on Tuesday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $347.14 and a 200 day moving average of $340.30. The stock has a market cap of $5.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.72, a P/E/G ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.53. Piper Sandler Companies has a 12 month low of $202.91 and a 12 month high of $380.26.

Piper Sandler Companies’s stock is set to split on Tuesday, March 24th. The 4-1 split was announced on Friday, February 6th. The newly minted shares will be distributed to shareholders after the closing bell on Monday, March 23rd.

Piper Sandler Companies (NYSE:PIPR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 6th. The company reported $6.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.72 by $2.16. The company had revenue of $635.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $516.52 million. Piper Sandler Companies had a return on equity of 22.50% and a net margin of 14.77%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 27.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $4.80 earnings per share.

Insider Transactions at Piper Sandler Companies

In other news, CEO Chad R. Abraham sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $336.21, for a total value of $1,008,630.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, President Debbra L. Schoneman sold 5,240 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $350.99, for a total transaction of $1,839,187.60. Following the sale, the president owned 2,896 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,016,467.04. This represents a 64.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 2.70% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Piper Sandler Companies by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,128,150 shares of the company’s stock valued at $722,954,000 after buying an additional 17,964 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Piper Sandler Companies by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 716,829 shares of the company’s stock worth $243,514,000 after acquiring an additional 2,285 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Piper Sandler Companies by 2.5% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 400,772 shares of the company’s stock valued at $111,402,000 after acquiring an additional 9,759 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in shares of Piper Sandler Companies by 6.4% during the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 294,624 shares of the company’s stock valued at $100,087,000 after acquiring an additional 17,694 shares in the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. raised its position in shares of Piper Sandler Companies by 23.9% in the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 248,034 shares of the company’s stock worth $86,066,000 after purchasing an additional 47,885 shares during the last quarter. 72.79% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.