StockNews.com Downgrades Raymond James (NYSE:RJF) to Hold

StockNews.com lowered shares of Raymond James (NYSE:RJF) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note released on Monday.

RJF has been the subject of a number of other research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group raised Raymond James from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the company from $161.00 to $185.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. JMP Securities increased their target price on shares of Raymond James from $175.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on shares of Raymond James from $128.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Raymond James from $132.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on shares of Raymond James from $170.00 to $177.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Raymond James has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $166.09.

Raymond James Stock Performance

Shares of Raymond James stock opened at $161.14 on Monday. Raymond James has a 52 week low of $104.24 and a 52 week high of $174.32. The firm has a market capitalization of $32.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.72, a P/E/G ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a quick ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $161.85 and its two-hundred day moving average is $143.04.

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

Raymond James Increases Dividend

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Raymond James news, insider Bella Loykhter Allaire sold 3,451 shares of Raymond James stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.62, for a total transaction of $571,554.62. Following the sale, the insider now owns 80,421 shares in the company, 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Paul C. Reilly sold 50,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 2nd. The shares were 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 owns 283,110 shares in the company, valued at $47,364,303. This trade represents a 15.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 64,621 shares of company stock valued at $10,729,488 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.54% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Raymond James

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of RJF. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC grew its position in shares of Raymond James by 3,960.0% in the 3rd quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC now owns 203 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 198 shares during the period. TCTC Holdings LLC grew its stake in Raymond James by 176.7% in the fourth quarter. TCTC Holdings LLC now owns 166 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 106 shares in the last quarter. Gladius Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of Raymond James in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Y.D. More Investments Ltd raised its position 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 acquiring an additional 127 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Peterson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Raymond James in the third quarter valued at $37,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.83% of the company’s stock.

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.