Piper Sandler Companies (NYSE:PIPR) Trading Down 5.5% – Time to Sell?

Piper Sandler Companies (NYSE:PIPR) fell 5.5% during trading on Friday . The stock traded as low as $80.65 and last traded at $82.38. 203,182 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 70% from the average session volume of 681,368 shares. The stock had previously closed at $87.20.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $97.00 target price on shares of Piper Sandler Companies in a report on Tuesday, April 14th. Bank of America assumed coverage on Piper Sandler Companies in a report on Monday, January 26th. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $96.25 target price for the company. Northland Securities upgraded Piper Sandler Companies from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $87.50 target price for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 4th. Wall Street Zen lowered Piper Sandler Companies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, April 11th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Piper Sandler Companies in a report on Friday, January 23rd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Piper Sandler Companies currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $95.06.

Piper Sandler Companies Trading Down 8.5%

The company has a fifty day moving average of $79.27 and a two-hundred day moving average of $83.40. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 1.48.

Piper Sandler Companies (NYSE:PIPR) last posted its earnings results on Friday, February 6th. The company reported $6.88 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.72 by $2.16. Piper Sandler Companies had a return on equity of 21.85% and a net margin of 14.77%.The firm had revenue of $635.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $516.52 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.20 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 27.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Piper Sandler Companies will post 4.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Piper Sandler Companies Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 3rd were issued a dividend of $0.175 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 3rd. This represents a $0.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.9%. Piper Sandler Companies’s payout ratio is 17.72%.

Insider Activity at Piper Sandler Companies

In other news, President Debbra L. Schoneman sold 20,960 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.75, for a total transaction of $1,839,187.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the president directly owned 11,584 shares in the company, valued at $1,016,467.04. The trade was a 64.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 3.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Piper Sandler Companies during the first quarter worth approximately $1,535,000. Sterling Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Piper Sandler Companies by 296.5% during the first quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 452 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 338 shares during the last quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. lifted its holdings in shares of Piper Sandler Companies by 71.3% during the fourth quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 346 shares of the company’s stock worth $118,000 after buying an additional 144 shares during the last quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Piper Sandler Companies by 16.7% during the fourth quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 1,202 shares of the company’s stock worth $408,000 after buying an additional 172 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bayban acquired a new position in shares of Piper Sandler Companies during the fourth quarter worth approximately $707,000. 72.79% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Piper Sandler Companies Company Profile

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.