Raymond James Financial Inc. Takes Position in Piper Sandler Companies (NYSE:PIPR)

Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Piper Sandler Companies (NYSE:PIPR) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 24,884 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $7,464,000.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Cerity Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Piper Sandler Companies by 21.3% during the third quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 16,060 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,558,000 after purchasing an additional 2,819 shares during the period. Barclays PLC raised its stake in shares of Piper Sandler Companies by 307.2% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 32,328 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $9,174,000 after purchasing an additional 24,388 shares during the period. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Piper Sandler Companies by 336.1% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 314 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $94,000 after purchasing an additional 242 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Piper Sandler Companies by 1.3% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 205,226 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $58,245,000 after purchasing an additional 2,689 shares during the period. Finally, Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Piper Sandler Companies during the third quarter valued at approximately $624,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 72.79% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on PIPR. StockNews.com lowered shares of Piper Sandler Companies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. JMP Securities reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Piper Sandler Companies in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price target on shares of Piper Sandler Companies from $321.00 to $286.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 14th.

Piper Sandler Companies Price Performance

PIPR stock opened at $259.10 on Monday. Piper Sandler Companies has a twelve month low of $183.58 and a twelve month high of $351.80. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.35 and a beta of 1.46. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $271.07.

Piper Sandler Companies (NYSE:PIPR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The financial services provider reported $4.80 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.99 by $0.81. Piper Sandler Companies had a net margin of 11.87% and a return on equity of 17.00%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $4.03 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Piper Sandler Companies will post 14.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Piper Sandler Companies Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 4th were issued a $0.65 dividend. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.00%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 4th. Piper Sandler Companies’s dividend payout ratio is presently 25.44%.

Piper Sandler Companies Company Profile

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.