Sterling Capital Management LLC Sells 53,077 Shares of Pinnacle Financial Partners, Inc. (NASDAQ:PNFP)

Sterling Capital Management LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Pinnacle Financial Partners, Inc. (NASDAQ:PNFP) by 48.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 55,843 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 53,077 shares during the period. Sterling Capital Management LLC owned approximately 0.07% of Pinnacle Financial Partners worth $6,388,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina increased its stake in shares of Pinnacle Financial Partners by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 33,321 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,812,000 after acquiring an additional 210 shares during the last quarter. Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Pinnacle Financial Partners by 5.3% in the fourth quarter. Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 2,414 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $276,000 after purchasing an additional 122 shares in the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. raised its holdings in Pinnacle Financial Partners by 3.5% in the fourth quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 186,706 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $21,358,000 after purchasing an additional 6,313 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Pinnacle Financial Partners during the 4th quarter worth $44,737,000. Finally, Advisory Services Network LLC bought a new position in shares of Pinnacle Financial Partners during the 4th quarter valued at about $405,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.40% of the company’s stock.

Pinnacle Financial Partners Trading Down 0.3 %

Pinnacle Financial Partners stock opened at $90.04 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 0.90 and a quick ratio of 0.90. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $107.69 and a 200-day moving average of $111.93. The company has a market cap of $6.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.06 and a beta of 0.94. Pinnacle Financial Partners, Inc. has a one year low of $73.62 and a one year high of $131.91.

Pinnacle Financial Partners (NASDAQ:PNFP) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 21st. The financial services provider reported $1.90 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.80 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $475.34 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $470.33 million. Pinnacle Financial Partners had a return on equity of 9.04% and a net margin of 15.48%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 19.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.68 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Pinnacle Financial Partners, Inc. will post 7.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Pinnacle Financial Partners Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Friday, February 7th were issued a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.07%. This is an increase from Pinnacle Financial Partners’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 7th. Pinnacle Financial Partners’s payout ratio is presently 16.05%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Pinnacle Financial Partners news, Chairman Robert A. Mccabe, Jr. sold 40,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $113.81, for a total transaction of $4,552,400.00. Following the transaction, the chairman now owns 83,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,446,230. The trade was a 32.52 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director David B. Ingram sold 10,309 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $126.00, for a total value of $1,298,934.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 82,256 shares in the company, valued at $10,364,256. This represents a 11.14 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 95,350 shares of company stock valued at $11,421,320. 1.46% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. Stephens reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $142.00 target price on shares of Pinnacle Financial Partners in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Hovde Group lowered their price objective on shares of Pinnacle Financial Partners from $135.00 to $120.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Pinnacle Financial Partners from $123.00 to $132.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 31st. UBS Group started coverage on Pinnacle Financial Partners in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $133.00 target price for the company. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target 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. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $124.70.

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.