PJT Partners (NYSE:PJT) Shares Down 7.6% – Time to Sell?

PJT Partners Inc. (NYSE:PJT)’s share price fell 7.6% on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $156.41 and last traded at $155.82. 188,595 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 50% from the average session volume of 377,932 shares. The stock had previously closed at $168.56.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently commented on PJT. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of PJT Partners in a report on Friday, May 29th. UBS Group increased their price objective on PJT Partners from $160.00 to $162.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on PJT Partners from $175.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded PJT Partners from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $170.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 1st. Finally, Zacks Research raised PJT Partners from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, June 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $175.33.

PJT Partners Stock Performance

The stock’s 50 day moving average is $155.93 and its 200 day moving average is $157.18. The company has a market capitalization of $4.06 billion, a PE ratio of 22.94 and a beta of 0.85.

PJT Partners (NYSE:PJT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 28th. The financial services provider reported $1.54 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.51 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $418.20 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $409.38 million. PJT Partners had a net margin of 10.32% and a return on equity of 32.00%. PJT Partners’s revenue was up 28.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.05 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that PJT Partners Inc. will post 7.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PJT Partners Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 17th. Investors of record on Wednesday, June 3rd were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, June 3rd. PJT Partners’s payout ratio is presently 14.58%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other PJT Partners news, General Counsel David Adam Travin sold 3,000 shares of PJT Partners stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $152.43, for a total transaction of $457,290.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel owned 2,052 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $312,786.36. The trade was a 59.38% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Helen T. Meates sold 8,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $153.19, for a total value of $1,225,520.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 58,466 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,956,406.54. This represents a 12.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders own 10.98% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On PJT Partners

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Wasatch Advisors LP increased its holdings in PJT Partners by 79.3% during the 2nd quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 1,478,222 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $223,123,000 after acquiring an additional 653,685 shares during the period. First Bank & Trust boosted its holdings in PJT Partners by 6.1% in the 2nd quarter. First Bank & Trust now owns 4,752 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $717,000 after purchasing an additional 275 shares during the period. Balefire LLC bought a new position in PJT Partners in the 2nd quarter valued at $220,000. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its position in shares of PJT Partners by 73.3% during the 2nd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 234 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 99 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Prospect Capital Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of PJT Partners by 2.3% during the 1st quarter. Prospect Capital Advisors LLC now owns 98,230 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $13,725,000 after purchasing an additional 2,200 shares in the last quarter. 89.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

PJT Partners Company Profile

PJT Partners is a global advisory-focused investment bank that delivers strategic advisory, restructuring and special situations, and capital solutions to corporations, partnerships, and governments. The firm operates through three primary business segments: Strategic Advisory, which covers mergers and acquisitions, shareholder advisory, and capital markets advisory; Restructuring and Special Situations, which provides advice on debt and liability management, distressed mergers and acquisitions, and financial restructurings; and Park Hill, the firm’s dedicated capital-raising and secondary advisory business for private equity, real estate, hedge funds, and infrastructure.

The Strategic Advisory practice at PJT Partners assists clients with complex transactions such as cross-border mergers, spin-offs, divestitures, and takeover defenses, drawing on deep industry expertise and global reach.