Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. Buys Shares of 1,883 Pinnacle Financial Partners, Inc. (NASDAQ:PNFP)

Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. purchased a new stake in Pinnacle Financial Partners, Inc. (NASDAQ:PNFP) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor purchased 1,883 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $215,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Cerity Partners LLC grew its position in Pinnacle Financial Partners by 24.5% during the 3rd quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 36,261 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,552,000 after acquiring an additional 7,130 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its stake in shares of Pinnacle Financial Partners by 11.6% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,716,416 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $266,127,000 after buying an additional 282,016 shares during the period. Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new position in shares of Pinnacle Financial Partners in the third quarter valued at approximately $70,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its holdings in Pinnacle Financial Partners by 689.2% in the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 21,932 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,149,000 after buying an additional 19,153 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Townsquare Capital LLC boosted its position in Pinnacle Financial Partners by 6.6% during the 3rd quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 9,350 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $916,000 after buying an additional 581 shares during the period. 87.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Pinnacle Financial Partners

In other news, Director David B. Ingram sold 40,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $126.50, for a total transaction of $5,060,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 40,991 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,185,361.50. The trade was a 49.39 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO M Terry Turner sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.63, for a total transaction of $201,260.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 254,552 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,615,567.76. The trade was a 0.78 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 95,350 shares of company stock valued at $11,421,320 over the last ninety days. 1.46% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Pinnacle Financial Partners Stock Down 2.2 %

Pinnacle Financial Partners stock opened at $105.06 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. The company has a market capitalization of $8.13 billion, a PE ratio of 17.57 and a beta of 1.09. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $114.63 and its 200 day moving average is $112.07. 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 released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 21st. The financial services provider reported $1.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.80 by $0.10. Pinnacle Financial Partners had a net margin of 15.48% and a return on equity of 9.04%. The company had revenue of $475.34 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $470.33 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.68 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 19.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Pinnacle Financial Partners, Inc. will post 7.85 EPS 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. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 7th were given a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.91%. This is a positive change from Pinnacle Financial Partners’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 7th. Pinnacle Financial Partners’s dividend payout ratio is presently 16.05%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PNFP has been the subject of several analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of Pinnacle Financial Partners from $140.00 to $138.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and set a $135.00 target price (up from $115.00) on shares of Pinnacle Financial Partners in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Barclays upgraded Pinnacle Financial Partners from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price target for the company from $120.00 to $135.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Citigroup raised their price objective on Pinnacle Financial Partners from $123.00 to $132.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 31st. Finally, UBS Group initiated coverage on Pinnacle Financial Partners in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $133.00 target price on the stock. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $125.18.

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.