JMP Securities Downgrades PJT Partners (NYSE:PJT) to Market Perform

JMP Securities lowered shares of PJT Partners (NYSE:PJT) from an outperform rating to a market perform rating in a report released on Monday, MarketBeat reports.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. UBS Group raised PJT Partners from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $130.00 to $175.00 in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on PJT Partners from $151.00 to $159.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $152.25.

PJT Partners Price Performance

Shares of PJT opened at $161.60 on Monday. PJT Partners has a 1 year low of $88.51 and a 1 year high of $168.92. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $159.54 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $138.89. The firm has a market cap of $3.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.02 and a beta of 0.66.

PJT Partners (NYSE:PJT) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The financial services provider reported $0.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.91 by $0.02. PJT Partners had a return on equity of 18.79% and a net margin of 8.03%. The company had revenue of $326.30 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $313.46 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.78 earnings per share. PJT Partners’s quarterly revenue was up 17.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that PJT Partners will post 4.4 earnings per share for the current year.

PJT Partners Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 18th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 4th were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, December 4th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.62%. PJT Partners’s dividend payout ratio is 25.38%.

Insider Activity at PJT Partners

In related news, Director James Costos sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $161.41, for a total value of $242,115.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 9,360 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,510,797.60. The trade was a 13.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, General Counsel David Adam Travin sold 1,541 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $159.18, for a total transaction of $245,296.38. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 4,766 shares of company stock worth $762,980 in the last 90 days. 11.71% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On PJT Partners

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Quarry LP lifted its stake in PJT Partners by 186.3% in the 3rd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 209 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 136 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in shares of PJT Partners by 76.4% in the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 337 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $45,000 after acquiring an additional 146 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV grew its holdings in PJT Partners by 113.0% during the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 803 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $107,000 after acquiring an additional 426 shares in the last quarter. nVerses Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of PJT Partners in the 3rd quarter valued at about $213,000. Finally, D.A. Davidson & CO. purchased a new stake in PJT Partners in the third quarter valued at $234,000. 89.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About PJT Partners

PJT Partners Inc, an investment bank, provides various strategic and capital markets advisory, restructuring and special situations, and shareholder advisory services to corporations, financial sponsors, institutional investors, and governments worldwide. It offers advisory services to clients on various transactions, including mergers and acquisitions (M&A), spin-offs, activism defense, contested M&A, joint ventures, minority investments, and divestitures.