J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. Takes Position in Raymond James (NYSE:RJF)

J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Raymond James (NYSE:RJF) in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor purchased 3,289 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $511,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in Raymond James by 1.5% in the third quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,228 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $528,000 after acquiring an additional 64 shares during the last quarter. CX Institutional raised its position in shares of Raymond James by 2.9% in the fourth quarter. CX Institutional now owns 2,323 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $361,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares during the period. Stablepoint Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Raymond James by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Stablepoint Partners LLC now owns 14,651 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,276,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares during the period. Metis Global Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Raymond James by 1.4% in the third quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 6,115 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $749,000 after purchasing an additional 82 shares during the period. Finally, Portside Wealth Group LLC raised its position in shares of Raymond James by 3.9% in the third quarter. Portside Wealth Group LLC now owns 2,495 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $306,000 after purchasing an additional 93 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.83% of the company’s stock.

Raymond James Trading Down 0.8 %

Shares of Raymond James stock opened at $159.61 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $32.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.57, a PEG ratio of 0.93 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a quick ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. Raymond James has a 12-month low of $104.24 and a 12-month high of $174.32. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $161.59 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $144.66.

Raymond James (NYSE:RJF) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $2.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.62 by $0.31. Raymond James had a net margin of 14.06% and a return on equity of 19.71%. On average, analysts forecast that Raymond James will post 11.12 earnings per share 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. 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 1.25%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, January 2nd. Raymond James’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 19.51%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Tashtego S. Elwyn sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 13th. The shares were 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 approximately $5,212,755.36. This trade represents a 23.43 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, 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 transaction 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 approximately $47,364,303. The trade was a 15.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 64,621 shares of company stock worth $10,729,488. Corporate insiders own 0.54% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on RJF. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Raymond James from $145.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 10th. TD Cowen increased their price objective on shares of Raymond James from $128.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. UBS Group raised shares of Raymond James from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of Raymond James from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $161.00 to $185.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, JMP Securities raised their price target 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. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $166.09.

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.