Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. Boosts Stake in Raymond James (NYSE:RJF)

Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Raymond James (NYSE:RJF) by 2.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 29,494 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 674 shares during the period. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Raymond James were worth $4,581,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC lifted its stake in shares of 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. Quarry LP purchased a new position in shares of Raymond James in the second quarter valued at about $29,000. Future Financial Wealth Managment LLC purchased a new position in shares of Raymond James in the third quarter valued at about $32,000. Gladius Capital Management LP bought a new position in shares of Raymond James in the third quarter worth about $34,000. Finally, Peterson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Raymond James during the third quarter worth about $37,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.83% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently commented on RJF. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Raymond James from $169.00 to $168.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Citigroup boosted their target price 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. JMP Securities raised their target price on shares of Raymond James from $146.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of Raymond James from $136.00 to $152.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Raymond James from $132.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Raymond James presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $156.09.

Raymond James Trading Up 3.1 %

Shares of NYSE RJF opened at $161.55 on Thursday. Raymond James has a 1-year low of $104.24 and a 1-year 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 business’s 50 day moving average is $160.43 and its two-hundred day moving average is $135.96. The stock has a market capitalization of $33.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.64, a PEG 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, beating the consensus estimate of $2.41 by $0.54. The firm 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 company’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.13 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Raymond James will post 10.99 EPS for the current year.

Raymond James Increases Dividend

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

Insider Transactions at Raymond James

In other Raymond James 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 80,421 shares in the company, valued at $13,319,326.02. This represents a 4.11 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Tashtego S. Elwyn sold 10,000 shares of Raymond James stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $159.47, for a total transaction of $1,594,700.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 32,688 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,212,755.36. This represents a 23.43 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 64,621 shares of company stock worth $10,729,488. 0.54% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.