Piper Sandler Companies (NYSE:PIPR) Raised to Buy at The Goldman Sachs Group

Piper Sandler Companies (NYSE:PIPR) was upgraded by research analysts at The Goldman Sachs Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note issued to investors on Monday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a $386.00 target price on the financial services provider’s stock, up from their previous target price of $368.00. The Goldman Sachs Group’s price objective indicates a potential upside of 18.29% from the company’s current price.

Several other analysts also recently commented on PIPR. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Piper Sandler Companies in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Wall Street Zen raised Piper Sandler Companies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday, October 12th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded Piper Sandler Companies from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $362.50.

Piper Sandler Companies Price Performance

Shares of Piper Sandler Companies stock opened at $326.33 on Monday. Piper Sandler Companies has a 1 year low of $202.91 and a 1 year high of $374.77. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $339.89 and its 200 day moving average is $304.34. The stock has a market cap of $5.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.54 and a beta of 1.50.

Piper Sandler Companies (NYSE:PIPR) last issued its earnings results on Friday, October 31st. The financial services provider reported $3.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.96 by $0.86. Piper Sandler Companies had a net margin of 13.18% and a return on equity of 18.67%. The business had revenue of $455.31 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $408.40 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.57 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 33.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that Piper Sandler Companies will post 14.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, President Debbra L. Schoneman sold 2,500 shares of Piper Sandler Companies stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $330.33, for a total transaction of $825,825.00. Following the transaction, the president owned 2,896 shares in the company, valued at $956,635.68. This trade represents a 46.33% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 2.70% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Piper Sandler Companies

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Piper Sandler Companies during the first quarter valued at $215,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Piper Sandler Companies by 0.6% in the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 156,751 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $38,821,000 after acquiring an additional 992 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in Piper Sandler Companies by 31.7% during the first quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 78,128 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $19,349,000 after acquiring an additional 18,787 shares during the last quarter. M&T Bank Corp raised its position in Piper Sandler Companies by 6.6% during the first quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 874 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $217,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares during the period. Finally, Nisa Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Piper Sandler Companies by 3.4% in the 1st quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 6,061 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,501,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. 72.79% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Piper Sandler Companies

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.