Raymond James (NYSE:RJF) Shares Sold by Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc.

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. reduced its holdings in shares of Raymond James (NYSE:RJF) by 1.8% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 464,652 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 8,488 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc.’s holdings in Raymond James were worth $72,174,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Choreo LLC lifted its stake in Raymond James by 40.9% during the fourth quarter. Choreo LLC now owns 4,029 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $626,000 after purchasing an additional 1,170 shares during the last quarter. Tectonic Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Raymond James by 3.0% in the 4th quarter. Tectonic Advisors LLC now owns 4,244 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $659,000 after buying an additional 125 shares in the last quarter. Confluence Wealth Services Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Raymond James by 120.4% in the 4th quarter. Confluence Wealth Services Inc. now owns 4,458 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $765,000 after buying an additional 2,435 shares in the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its position in shares of Raymond James by 22.9% in the 4th quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 19,852 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,108,000 after buying an additional 3,698 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Y.D. More Investments Ltd raised its stake in Raymond James by 121.0% during the 4th quarter. Y.D. More Investments Ltd now owns 232 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 127 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.83% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

RJF has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Raymond James from $145.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target 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. JMP Securities boosted their price objective 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. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Raymond James from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $161.00 to $185.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Raymond James from $132.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $166.09.

Insider Activity at Raymond James

In other news, CEO Paul C. Reilly sold 50,000 shares of Raymond James stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $167.30, for a total transaction 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 approximately $47,364,303. This trade represents a 15.01 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Tashtego S. Elwyn sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $159.47, for a total value of $1,594,700.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 32,688 shares in the company, valued at $5,212,755.36. This trade represents a 23.43 % 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 worth $10,729,488 over the last three months. 0.54% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Raymond James Stock Performance

Shares of RJF opened at $167.46 on Monday. Raymond James has a 1 year low of $104.24 and a 1 year high of $174.32. The stock has a market capitalization of $34.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.34, a P/E/G ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 1.02. The company’s fifty day moving average is $162.09 and its two-hundred day moving average is $142.28.

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

Raymond James Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 16th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 2nd were issued a $0.50 dividend. This is a boost from Raymond James’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.19%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, January 2nd. Raymond James’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 19.51%.

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.