Raymond James (NYSE:RJF) Cut to “Hold” at StockNews.com

StockNews.com downgraded shares of Raymond James (NYSE:RJF) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report issued on Monday morning.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently commented on the company. Bank of America lifted their target price on Raymond James from $198.00 to $201.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Raymond James from $168.00 to $176.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. JMP Securities boosted their target price on Raymond James from $175.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on Raymond James from $170.00 to $177.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Raymond James from $145.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, January 10th. Nine 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Raymond James presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $166.09.

Raymond James Price Performance

RJF stock opened at $161.14 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $32.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.72, a PEG ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 1.03. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $161.85 and its 200 day simple moving average is $143.04. The company has a quick ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. Raymond James has a 12-month low of $104.24 and a 12-month high of $174.32.

Raymond James (NYSE:RJF) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $2.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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%. On average, analysts expect that Raymond James will post 11.12 earnings per share for the current year.

Raymond James Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 16th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 2nd were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This is a boost from Raymond James’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, January 2nd. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.24%. Raymond James’s dividend payout ratio is currently 19.51%.

Insider Transactions at Raymond James

In related news, insider Bella Loykhter Allaire sold 1,170 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $169.43, for a total transaction of $198,233.10. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 80,421 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,625,730.03. This represents a 1.43 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Tashtego S. Elwyn sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 32,688 shares in the company, valued at $5,212,755.36. This represents a 23.43 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 64,621 shares of company stock worth $10,729,488. 0.54% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC grew its position 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 worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 198 shares during the period. TCTC Holdings LLC boosted its stake in Raymond James by 176.7% during the 4th quarter. TCTC Holdings LLC now owns 166 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 106 shares during the last quarter. Gladius Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in Raymond James in the 3rd quarter valued at about $34,000. Y.D. More Investments Ltd boosted its stake in Raymond James by 121.0% during the fourth quarter. Y.D. More Investments Ltd now owns 232 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 127 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Peterson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Raymond James during the 3rd quarter valued at about $37,000. 83.83% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.