New York State Teachers Retirement System Sells 2,561 Shares of Raymond James (NYSE:RJF)

New York State Teachers Retirement System cut its position in shares of Raymond James (NYSE:RJF) by 1.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 207,583 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 2,561 shares during the quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System owned 0.10% of Raymond James worth $32,244,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in shares of Raymond James by 31.4% in 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in Raymond James by 12.0% during the third 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 last quarter. Ceredex Value Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Raymond James by 191.3% during the third quarter. Ceredex Value Advisors LLC now owns 722,393 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $88,464,000 after buying an additional 474,443 shares during the last quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP bought a new position in shares of Raymond James during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $34,105,000. Finally, Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Raymond James during the third quarter worth approximately $28,985,000. Institutional investors own 83.83% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently issued reports on RJF. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on Raymond James from $170.00 to $177.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. UBS Group upgraded shares of Raymond James from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. StockNews.com lowered Raymond James from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. 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 research report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, JMP Securities lifted their price target on shares of Raymond James from $175.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $166.09.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Paul C. Reilly sold 50,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 283,110 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $47,364,303. This trade represents a 15.01 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Bella Loykhter Allaire sold 3,451 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.62, for a total value of $571,554.62. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 80,421 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,319,326.02. This represents a 4.11 % 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 owned by company insiders.

Raymond James Stock Performance

Shares of RJF opened at $159.63 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $32.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.57, a P/E/G ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 1.03. Raymond James has a 52 week low of $104.24 and a 52 week high of $174.32. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $161.67 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $143.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 1.02.

Raymond James (NYSE:RJF) last announced 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 return on equity of 19.99% and a net margin of 14.06%. Equities analysts forecast that Raymond James will post 11.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Raymond James Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 16th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 2nd were paid a $0.50 dividend. This is a positive change 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.25%. Raymond James’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 19.51%.

Raymond James 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.