Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC Cuts Stake in Piper Sandler Companies $PIPR

Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC reduced its stake in Piper Sandler Companies (NYSE:PIPR) by 3.3% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 7,156 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 243 shares during the quarter. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC’s holdings in Piper Sandler Companies were worth $1,989,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. purchased a new stake in Piper Sandler Companies during the second quarter valued at about $250,000. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management lifted its holdings in Piper Sandler Companies by 17.6% during the second quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management now owns 4,037 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,122,000 after purchasing an additional 604 shares during the last quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue lifted its holdings in Piper Sandler Companies by 9.7% during the second quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 9,789 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,720,000 after purchasing an additional 868 shares during the last quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc lifted its holdings in Piper Sandler Companies by 48.1% during the second quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 114 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Oliver Luxxe Assets LLC lifted its holdings in Piper Sandler Companies by 0.9% during the second quarter. Oliver Luxxe Assets LLC now owns 9,715 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,700,000 after purchasing an additional 89 shares during the last quarter. 72.79% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Piper Sandler Companies

In related news, insider Jonathan J. Doyle sold 3,536 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $316.84, for a total value of $1,120,346.24. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 132,910 shares in the company, valued at approximately $42,111,204.40. This represents a 2.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Scott C. Taylor sold 2,600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $319.86, for a total transaction of $831,636.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 16,319 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,219,795.34. This trade represents a 13.74% 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. 2.70% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Piper Sandler Companies Stock Performance

Shares of PIPR opened at $344.45 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $336.13. The company has a market capitalization of $6.09 billion, a PE ratio of 29.07 and a beta of 1.45. Piper Sandler Companies has a twelve month low of $202.91 and a twelve month high of $374.77.

Piper Sandler Companies (NYSE:PIPR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, August 1st. The financial services provider reported $2.95 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.99 by $0.96. The company had revenue of $405.39 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $349.40 million. Piper Sandler Companies had a net margin of 13.18% and a return on equity of 18.67%. Piper Sandler Companies’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.52 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Piper Sandler Companies will post 14.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Piper Sandler Companies Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 12th. Investors of record on Friday, August 29th were given a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. This is a positive change from Piper Sandler Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.65. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 29th. Piper Sandler Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 23.63%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have commented on PIPR. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Piper Sandler Companies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Piper Sandler Companies in a report on Saturday, September 27th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Piper Sandler Companies from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 30th. Finally, Wolfe Research raised shares of Piper Sandler Companies from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $339.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $312.50.

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.