Raymond James (NYSE:RJF) Given Average Rating of “Hold” by Brokerages

Raymond James (NYSE:RJF) has earned an average rating of “Hold” from the twelve research firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $166.09.

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. StockNews.com raised Raymond James from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of Raymond James from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $161.00 to $185.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on shares of Raymond James from $170.00 to $177.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. JMP Securities upped their price target on shares of Raymond James from $175.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Bank of America increased their price target on shares of Raymond James from $198.00 to $201.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th.

Raymond James Trading Down 0.6 %

Shares of RJF stock opened at $167.46 on Monday. Raymond James has a twelve month low of $104.24 and a twelve month high of $174.32. The company has a market capitalization of $34.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.34, a PEG ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 1.03. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $162.09 and a 200 day moving average price of $142.28. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37.

Raymond James (NYSE:RJF) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $2.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.62 by $0.31. Raymond James had a net margin of 14.06% and a return on equity of 19.99%. Research analysts forecast that Raymond James will post 11.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Raymond James Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 16th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 2nd were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.19%. This is a boost from Raymond James’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, January 2nd. Raymond James’s dividend payout ratio is 19.51%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Raymond James

In other Raymond James news, insider Tashtego S. Elwyn sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $159.47, for a total value of $1,594,700.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 32,688 shares in the company, valued at $5,212,755.36. The trade was a 23.43 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Bella Loykhter Allaire sold 3,451 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.62, for a total transaction of $571,554.62. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 80,421 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,319,326.02. The trade was a 4.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 64,621 shares of company stock valued at $10,729,488 over the last three months. 0.54% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of RJF. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in Raymond James by 31.4% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 12,114,502 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,483,542,000 after purchasing an additional 2,898,242 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Raymond James during the fourth quarter worth approximately $105,701,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in shares of Raymond James by 12.0% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,544,610 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $556,533,000 after buying an additional 488,245 shares during the last quarter. Ceredex Value Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Raymond James by 191.3% in the third quarter. Ceredex Value Advisors LLC now owns 722,393 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $88,464,000 after acquiring an additional 474,443 shares in the last quarter. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its stake in Raymond James by 433.4% during the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 567,460 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $88,144,000 after acquiring an additional 461,069 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.83% of the company’s stock.

Raymond James Company Profile

Raymond James Financial, Inc, a financial holding company, through its subsidiaries, engages in the underwriting, distribution, trading, and brokerage of equity and debt securities, and the sale of mutual funds and other investment products in the United States, Canada, Europe, and internationally. The company operates through Private Client Group, Capital Markets, Asset Management, RJ Bank, and Other segments.