Raymond James (NYSE:RJF) Shares Sold by Steph & Co.

Steph & Co. trimmed its stake in shares of Raymond James (NYSE:RJF) by 6.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,549 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 105 shares during the period. Steph & Co.’s holdings in Raymond James were worth $241,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in Raymond James by 31.4% during the third 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 buying an additional 2,898,242 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of Raymond James by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,974,740 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $976,587,000 after acquiring an additional 54,265 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in Raymond James by 12.0% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,544,610 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $556,533,000 after purchasing an additional 488,245 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Raymond James by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,351,684 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $531,013,000 after purchasing an additional 12,869 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Earnest Partners LLC raised its stake in Raymond James by 1.5% during the 2nd quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 2,505,369 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $309,689,000 after purchasing an additional 37,173 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.83% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, 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 value of $571,554.62. Following the sale, the insider now owns 80,421 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,319,326.02. The trade was a 4.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Tashtego S. Elwyn sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $159.47, for a total transaction of $1,594,700.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 32,688 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,212,755.36. This represents a 23.43 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 64,621 shares of company stock valued at $10,729,488 over the last ninety days. 0.54% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Raymond James Price Performance

Shares of Raymond James stock opened at $161.55 on Thursday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $160.43 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $135.96. Raymond James has a fifty-two week low of $104.24 and a fifty-two week high of $171.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 1.00. The company has a market cap of $33.01 billion, a PE ratio of 16.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 1.02.

Raymond James (NYSE:RJF) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.95 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.41 by $0.54. The business had revenue of $3.46 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.32 billion. Raymond James had a return on equity of 19.30% and a net margin of 13.86%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.13 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Raymond James will post 10.99 EPS for the current year.

Raymond James Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 16th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 2nd will be paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.24%. This is a positive change from Raymond James’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, January 2nd. Raymond James’s dividend payout ratio is presently 20.60%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

RJF has been the subject of a number of research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated a “neutral” rating and set a $166.00 price objective (up from $151.00) on shares of Raymond James in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Raymond James from $136.00 to $152.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Raymond James from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $161.00 to $185.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. JMP Securities boosted their price target on shares of Raymond James from $146.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, UBS Group upgraded Raymond James from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $156.09.

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.