Principal Financial Group Inc. Sells 134,910 Shares of Pinnacle Financial Partners, Inc. (NASDAQ:PNFP)

Principal Financial Group Inc. lessened its stake in shares of Pinnacle Financial Partners, Inc. (NASDAQ:PNFP) by 13.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 848,372 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 134,910 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 1.10% of Pinnacle Financial Partners worth $97,046,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new position in Pinnacle Financial Partners during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Values First Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Pinnacle Financial Partners during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $49,000. Brooklyn Investment Group bought a new position in Pinnacle Financial Partners during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $70,000. UMB Bank n.a. increased its position in Pinnacle Financial Partners by 48.1% during the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 736 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $84,000 after buying an additional 239 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Principal Securities Inc. increased its position in Pinnacle Financial Partners by 12.7% during the 4th quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 808 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $92,000 after buying an additional 91 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.40% of the company’s stock.

Pinnacle Financial Partners Stock Performance

PNFP stock opened at $121.91 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $9.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.39 and a beta of 1.09. Pinnacle Financial Partners, Inc. has a 1 year low of $73.62 and a 1 year high of $131.91. 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 stock’s fifty day moving average price is $118.66 and its 200-day moving average price is $109.07.

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

Pinnacle Financial Partners Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Friday, February 7th will be given a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 7th. This is an increase from Pinnacle Financial Partners’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.79%. Pinnacle Financial Partners’s payout ratio is 14.72%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have commented on the company. Hovde Group downgraded Pinnacle Financial Partners from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and set a $135.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Monday, November 18th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated a “market perform” rating and set a $135.00 target price (up from $115.00) on shares of Pinnacle Financial Partners in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. UBS Group assumed coverage on Pinnacle Financial Partners in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $133.00 target price on the stock. Stephens reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $142.00 target price on shares of Pinnacle Financial Partners in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price 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. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $125.18.

Insider Activity at Pinnacle Financial Partners

In related news, Director David B. Ingram sold 40,000 shares of Pinnacle Financial Partners stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $126.50, for a total transaction of $5,060,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 40,991 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,185,361.50. The trade was a 49.39 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Harold R. Carpenter sold 3,051 shares of Pinnacle Financial Partners stock in a transaction on Monday, December 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $125.57, for a total value of $383,114.07. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 60,805 shares in the company, valued at $7,635,283.85. This trade represents a 4.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 126,970 shares of company stock worth $15,922,061. Corporate insiders own 1.87% of the company’s stock.

Pinnacle Financial Partners 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.