Baird Financial Group Inc. Increases Stake in Pinnacle Financial Partners, Inc. (NASDAQ:PNFP)

Baird Financial Group Inc. raised its position in Pinnacle Financial Partners, Inc. (NASDAQ:PNFP) by 82.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 6,171 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,790 shares during the period. Baird Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Pinnacle Financial Partners were worth $706,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Benjamin Edwards Inc. lifted its holdings in Pinnacle Financial Partners by 17.5% in the 4th quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 8,560 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $979,000 after purchasing an additional 1,275 shares in the last quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Pinnacle Financial Partners in the 4th quarter valued at $223,000. Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda purchased a new position in Pinnacle Financial Partners in the 4th quarter valued at $78,000. Utah Retirement Systems lifted its holdings in Pinnacle Financial Partners by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. Utah Retirement Systems now owns 4,090 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $468,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in Pinnacle Financial Partners by 22.4% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 685,795 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $78,448,000 after purchasing an additional 125,431 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.40% of the company’s stock.

Pinnacle Financial Partners Stock Down 0.1%

Shares of NASDAQ:PNFP opened at $111.39 on Thursday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $100.58 and a 200 day moving average price of $112.25. The company has a current ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. The company has a market capitalization of $8.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.63 and a beta of 1.00. Pinnacle Financial Partners, Inc. has a 12-month low of $73.62 and a 12-month high of $131.91.

Pinnacle Financial Partners (NASDAQ:PNFP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 14th. The financial services provider reported $1.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.82 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $475.37 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $478.11 million. Pinnacle Financial Partners had a return on equity of 9.04% and a net margin of 15.48%. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.53 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Pinnacle Financial Partners, Inc. will post 7.85 EPS for the current year.

Pinnacle Financial Partners Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 30th. Investors of record on Friday, May 2nd will be issued a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.86%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 2nd. Pinnacle Financial Partners’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 15.53%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have issued reports on PNFP. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Pinnacle Financial Partners from $125.00 to $105.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Hovde Group raised Pinnacle Financial Partners from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $111.00 target price for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on Pinnacle Financial Partners from $125.00 to $115.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their target price on Pinnacle Financial Partners from $130.00 to $115.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Barclays cut their target price on Pinnacle Financial Partners from $135.00 to $125.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Pinnacle Financial Partners has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $119.90.

Insider Activity at Pinnacle Financial Partners

In related news, Chairman Robert A. Mccabe, Jr. sold 40,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 83,000 shares in the company, valued at $9,446,230. This trade represents a 32.52% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO M Terry Turner sold 2,000 shares of Pinnacle Financial Partners stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.63, for a total value of $201,260.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 254,552 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $25,615,567.76. The trade was a 0.78% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 45,041 shares of company stock worth $5,062,386 in the last three months. 1.46% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

About Pinnacle Financial Partners

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.