Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank Acquires 4,021 Shares of Pinnacle Financial Partners, Inc. (NASDAQ:PNFP)

Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank grew its holdings in shares of Pinnacle Financial Partners, Inc. (NASDAQ:PNFP) by 24.6% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 20,385 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,021 shares during the quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank’s holdings in Pinnacle Financial Partners were worth $2,332,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of PNFP. Brooklyn Investment Group bought a new position in shares of Pinnacle Financial Partners in the 3rd quarter worth $70,000. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its holdings in shares of Pinnacle Financial Partners by 48.1% in the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 736 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $84,000 after purchasing an additional 239 shares in the last quarter. Principal Securities Inc. lifted its stake in Pinnacle Financial Partners by 12.7% during the 4th quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 808 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $92,000 after acquiring an additional 91 shares in the last quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont bought a new position in Pinnacle Financial Partners during the 4th quarter valued at $97,000. Finally, Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. bought a new position in Pinnacle Financial Partners during the 3rd quarter valued at $137,000. 87.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have weighed in on PNFP. Citigroup raised their price objective on Pinnacle Financial Partners from $123.00 to $132.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Pinnacle Financial Partners from $140.00 to $138.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Pinnacle Financial Partners from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated a “market perform” rating and set a $135.00 price objective (up from $115.00) on shares of Pinnacle Financial Partners in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, UBS Group began coverage on Pinnacle Financial Partners in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $133.00 price objective on the stock. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $125.18.

Insider Activity

In other Pinnacle Financial Partners news, Director David B. Ingram sold 40,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $126.50, for a total value of $5,060,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 40,991 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,185,361.50. This represents a 49.39 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO M Terry Turner sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.63, for a total value of $201,260.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 254,552 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $25,615,567.76. This represents a 0.78 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 92,350 shares of company stock worth $11,116,670 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 1.46% of the company’s stock.

Pinnacle Financial Partners Trading Up 2.8 %

Shares of Pinnacle Financial Partners stock opened at $102.82 on Monday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $116.52 and a 200-day moving average price of $111.60. Pinnacle Financial Partners, Inc. has a 1 year low of $73.62 and a 1 year high of $131.91. The firm has a market cap of $7.95 billion, a PE ratio of 17.19 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 0.90 and a quick ratio of 0.90.

Pinnacle Financial Partners (NASDAQ:PNFP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 21st. The financial services provider reported $1.90 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.80 by $0.10. Pinnacle Financial Partners had a return on equity of 9.04% and a net margin of 15.48%. The company had revenue of $475.34 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $470.33 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.68 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 19.9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Pinnacle Financial Partners, Inc. will post 7.85 EPS for the current year.

Pinnacle Financial Partners Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 7th were given a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 7th. This is a boost from Pinnacle Financial Partners’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.93%. Pinnacle Financial Partners’s dividend payout ratio is currently 16.05%.

Pinnacle Financial Partners Company Profile

Pinnacle Financial Partners, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, operates as the bank holding company for Pinnacle Bank that provides various banking products and services to individuals, businesses, and professional entities in the United States. The company accepts various deposits, including savings, noninterest-bearing and interest-bearing checking, money market, and certificate of deposit accounts; and provides treasury management services, which includes online wire origination, enhanced ACH origination services, positive pay, zero balance and sweep accounts, automated bill pay services, electronic receivables processing, lockbox processing, and merchant card acceptance services.