Westwood Holdings Group Inc. Sells 13,358 Shares of Piper Sandler Companies $PIPR

Westwood Holdings Group Inc. lowered its position in shares of Piper Sandler Companies (NYSE:PIPR) by 3.7% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 343,809 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 13,358 shares during the quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc.’s holdings in Piper Sandler Companies were worth $95,558,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in shares of Piper Sandler Companies in the 1st quarter valued at $49,826,000. MetLife Investment Management LLC boosted its position in Piper Sandler Companies by 384.7% during the first quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 50,637 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $12,541,000 after acquiring an additional 40,190 shares during the last quarter. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC grew its holdings in Piper Sandler Companies by 11.6% during the 2nd quarter. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC now owns 279,542 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $77,696,000 after acquiring an additional 29,035 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its position in shares of Piper Sandler Companies by 35.5% in the 2nd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 54,355 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $15,480,000 after acquiring an additional 14,241 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH acquired a new position in shares of Piper Sandler Companies in the 1st quarter valued at about $3,445,000. 72.79% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Piper Sandler Companies Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:PIPR opened at $328.88 on Friday. Piper Sandler Companies has a fifty-two week low of $202.91 and a fifty-two week high of $374.77. The company’s 50-day moving average is $340.36 and its 200 day moving average is $306.74. The company has a market capitalization of $5.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.75 and a beta of 1.50.

Piper Sandler Companies (NYSE:PIPR) last released its earnings results on Friday, October 31st. The financial services provider reported $3.82 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.96 by $0.86. Piper Sandler Companies had a net margin of 13.18% and a return on equity of 18.67%. The firm had revenue of $455.31 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $408.40 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.57 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 33.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Piper Sandler Companies will post 14.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Piper Sandler Companies Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 12th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 25th will be issued a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 25th. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.9%. Piper Sandler Companies’s dividend payout ratio is 21.10%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Piper Sandler Companies

In other news, President Debbra L. Schoneman sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $330.33, for a total value of $825,825.00. Following the sale, the president owned 2,896 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $956,635.68. The trade was a 46.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 2.70% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have issued reports on PIPR. Wall Street Zen raised Piper Sandler Companies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Sunday, October 12th. Zacks Research upgraded Piper Sandler Companies from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Piper Sandler Companies from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $368.00 to $386.00 in a research note on Monday, November 10th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Piper Sandler Companies in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $362.50.

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.