The Goldman Sachs Group Upgrades PJT Partners (NYSE:PJT) to Buy

PJT Partners (NYSE:PJT) was upgraded by equities researchers at The Goldman Sachs Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note issued on Wednesday, Marketbeat.com reports. The firm presently has a $170.00 target price on the financial services provider’s stock. The Goldman Sachs Group’s price objective suggests a potential upside of 21.52% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other brokerages have also recently issued reports on PJT. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of PJT Partners in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. UBS Group cut their price target on PJT Partners from $180.00 to $151.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 12th. Wolfe Research reiterated an “underperform” rating and issued a $150.00 price target on shares of PJT Partners in a research report on Wednesday, January 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on PJT Partners from $186.00 to $188.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 8th. Finally, Zacks Research cut PJT Partners from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, January 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has given a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $174.00.

PJT Partners Stock Up 1.3%

PJT opened at $139.90 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $151.80 and a 200-day moving average price of $166.18. PJT Partners has a twelve month low of $119.76 and a twelve month high of $195.62. The company has a market capitalization of $3.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.07 and a beta of 0.85.

PJT Partners (NYSE:PJT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 3rd. The financial services provider reported $2.55 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.41 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $535.16 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $533.32 million. PJT Partners had a net margin of 10.51% and a return on equity of 31.69%. PJT Partners’s revenue was up 12.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.90 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that PJT Partners will post 6.2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. CWM LLC increased its holdings in shares of PJT Partners by 50.8% in the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 181 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 61 shares during the period. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund raised its position in shares of PJT Partners by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 5,563 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $930,000 after buying an additional 64 shares in the last quarter. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC boosted its stake in PJT Partners by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC now owns 14,339 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,397,000 after buying an additional 66 shares during the period. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System boosted its stake in PJT Partners by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System now owns 3,561 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $595,000 after buying an additional 67 shares during the period. Finally, M&T Bank Corp grew its position in PJT Partners by 3.3% during the second quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 2,302 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $380,000 after buying an additional 74 shares in the last quarter. 89.23% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.