Hartford Investment Management Co. Sells 281 Shares of Raymond James (NYSE:RJF)

Hartford Investment Management Co. trimmed its position in Raymond James (NYSE:RJF) by 2.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 11,384 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 281 shares during the quarter. Hartford Investment Management Co.’s holdings in Raymond James were worth $1,768,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in RJF. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC grew its holdings in Raymond James by 3,960.0% during the 3rd quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC now owns 203 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 198 shares in the last quarter. Gladius Capital Management LP bought a new position in shares of Raymond James during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Y.D. More Investments Ltd grew its holdings in shares of Raymond James by 121.0% in the fourth quarter. Y.D. More Investments Ltd now owns 232 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 127 shares in the last quarter. Peterson Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in Raymond James in the third quarter worth $37,000. Finally, Quarry LP raised its stake in Raymond James by 80.3% during the third quarter. Quarry LP now owns 420 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $51,000 after purchasing an additional 187 shares in the last quarter. 83.83% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on RJF. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Raymond James from $168.00 to $176.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on Raymond James from $170.00 to $177.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. TD Cowen raised their price objective on Raymond James from $128.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. StockNews.com downgraded Raymond James from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, JMP Securities increased their price target on Raymond James from $175.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $166.09.

Raymond James Stock Down 0.5 %

NYSE:RJF opened at $160.34 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $161.75 and a 200-day simple moving average of $143.16. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. The company has a market cap of $32.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 1.03. Raymond James has a twelve month low of $104.24 and a twelve month high of $174.32.

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

Raymond James Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 16th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 2nd were issued a $0.50 dividend. This is a positive change from Raymond James’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, January 2nd. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.25%. Raymond James’s payout ratio is presently 19.51%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Paul C. Reilly sold 50,000 shares of Raymond James stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $167.30, for a total value of $8,365,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 283,110 shares in the company, valued at $47,364,303. The trade was a 15.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Bella Loykhter Allaire sold 1,170 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $169.43, for a total transaction of $198,233.10. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 80,421 shares in the company, valued at $13,625,730.03. This trade represents a 1.43 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 64,621 shares of company stock valued at $10,729,488 over the last quarter. 0.54% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

About Raymond James

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.