Vanguard Group Inc. Increases Stock Holdings in Pinnacle Financial Partners, Inc. (NASDAQ:PNFP)

Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Pinnacle Financial Partners, Inc. (NASDAQ:PNFP) by 1.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 7,200,386 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 87,058 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned about 9.32% of Pinnacle Financial Partners worth $823,652,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Azora Capital LP acquired a new stake in Pinnacle Financial Partners during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $64,326,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Pinnacle Financial Partners during the 4th quarter worth $44,737,000. FMR LLC increased its holdings in Pinnacle Financial Partners by 11.6% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,716,416 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $266,127,000 after purchasing an additional 282,016 shares during the period. Holocene Advisors LP acquired a new stake in Pinnacle Financial Partners in the 3rd quarter valued at about $21,576,000. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Pinnacle Financial Partners by 27.0% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 983,282 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $96,332,000 after buying an additional 208,938 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.40% of the company’s stock.

Pinnacle Financial Partners Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PNFP opened at $105.06 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $8.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.57 and a beta of 1.09. Pinnacle Financial Partners, Inc. has a twelve month low of $73.62 and a twelve month high of $131.91. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $114.63 and a two-hundred day moving average of $112.21. The company has a current ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37.

Pinnacle Financial Partners (NASDAQ:PNFP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 21st. The financial services provider reported $1.90 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 firm had revenue of $475.34 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $470.33 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.68 EPS. Pinnacle Financial Partners’s revenue for the quarter was up 19.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Friday, February 7th were issued a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 7th. 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. Pinnacle Financial Partners’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 16.05%.

Insider Activity at Pinnacle Financial Partners

In other news, Chairman Robert A. Mccabe, Jr. sold 40,000 shares of Pinnacle Financial Partners stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $113.81, for a total value of $4,552,400.00. Following the sale, the chairman now owns 83,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,446,230. The trade was a 32.52 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director David B. Ingram sold 10,309 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $126.00, for a total transaction of $1,298,934.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 82,256 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,364,256. This represents a 11.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 95,350 shares of company stock worth $11,421,320 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 1.46% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently weighed in on PNFP shares. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Pinnacle Financial Partners from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Pinnacle Financial Partners from $123.00 to $132.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 31st. Barclays raised Pinnacle Financial Partners from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their target price for the company from $120.00 to $135.00 in a report on Thursday, December 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on Pinnacle Financial Partners from $140.00 to $138.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Stephens reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $142.00 price objective on shares of Pinnacle Financial Partners in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $125.18.

About Pinnacle Financial Partners

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.