Verition Fund Management LLC Sells 3,538 Shares of PJT Partners Inc. (NYSE:PJT)

Verition Fund Management LLC lowered its stake in PJT Partners Inc. (NYSE:PJT) by 35.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,342 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 3,538 shares during the quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC’s holdings in PJT Partners were worth $846,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Captrust Financial Advisors lifted its holdings in shares of PJT Partners by 2.2% in the third quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 3,149 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $420,000 after buying an additional 67 shares in the last quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. increased its holdings in PJT Partners by 3.1% during the 3rd quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 300,964 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $40,119,000 after acquiring an additional 8,953 shares during the period. Public Sector Pension Investment Board increased its holdings in PJT Partners by 4.1% during the 3rd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 50,508 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $6,735,000 after acquiring an additional 2,000 shares during the period. Bridgewater Associates LP boosted its holdings in PJT Partners by 5.5% in the 3rd quarter. Bridgewater Associates LP now owns 12,642 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,686,000 after purchasing an additional 659 shares during the period. Finally, Townsquare Capital LLC grew its position in shares of PJT Partners by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 27,743 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,699,000 after purchasing an additional 508 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.23% of the company’s stock.

PJT Partners Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:PJT opened at $158.71 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.76 billion, a PE ratio of 40.28 and a beta of 0.65. PJT Partners Inc. has a 52-week low of $88.51 and a 52-week high of $168.92. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $150.78 and a 200 day moving average of $129.15.

PJT Partners (NYSE:PJT) last issued its quarterly 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. The firm had revenue of $326.30 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $313.46 million. PJT Partners had a return on equity of 18.79% and a net margin of 8.03%. The company’s revenue was up 17.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.78 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that PJT Partners Inc. will post 4.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PJT Partners Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 18th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 4th will be given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.63%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, December 4th. PJT Partners’s payout ratio is currently 25.38%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director James Costos sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $161.41, for a total transaction of $242,115.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 9,360 shares in the company, valued at $1,510,797.60. This represents a 13.81 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Kenneth C. Whitney sold 1,725 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $159.75, for a total value of $275,568.75. Following the transaction, the director now owns 9,100 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,453,725. The trade was a 15.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 4,766 shares of company stock valued at $762,980. 11.71% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. UBS Group upgraded PJT Partners from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $130.00 to $175.00 in a research report on Friday. JMP Securities raised their price target on PJT Partners from $142.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $134.80.

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.