JPMorgan Chase & Co. Raises Holdings in Raymond James (NYSE:RJF)

JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in Raymond James (NYSE:RJF) by 12.0% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 4,544,610 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 488,245 shares during the quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s holdings in Raymond James were worth $556,533,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in Raymond James by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,228 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $528,000 after purchasing an additional 64 shares in the last quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC grew its stake 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 buying an additional 82 shares in the last quarter. Wedmont Private Capital raised its holdings in shares of Raymond James by 5.1% during the 3rd quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 1,769 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $222,000 after buying an additional 86 shares during the period. Portside Wealth Group LLC lifted its position in Raymond James by 3.9% during the 3rd quarter. Portside Wealth Group LLC now owns 2,495 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $306,000 after acquiring an additional 93 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MML Investors Services LLC grew its position in Raymond James by 0.4% in the third quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 22,467 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,751,000 after acquiring an additional 98 shares in the last quarter. 83.83% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Raymond James

In related news, insider Bella Loykhter Allaire sold 3,451 shares of Raymond James 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 80,421 shares in the company, valued at $13,319,326.02. This trade represents a 4.11 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Tashtego S. Elwyn sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $159.47, for a total transaction of $1,594,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 32,688 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,212,755.36. This trade represents a 23.43 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 64,621 shares of company stock worth $10,729,488 in the last 90 days. 9.74% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently commented on RJF. TD Cowen boosted their target price on shares of Raymond James from $128.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. JMP Securities upped their price objective on shares of Raymond James from $146.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and set a $169.00 target price (up from $152.00) on shares of Raymond James in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on Raymond James from $125.00 to $142.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on Raymond James from $143.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $146.00.

Raymond James Stock Performance

Shares of RJF opened at $156.92 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 1.00. Raymond James has a 12-month low of $104.24 and a 12-month high of $171.38. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $157.47 and its 200 day moving average price is $132.57. The stock has a market capitalization of $32.02 billion, a PE ratio of 16.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.91 and a beta of 1.00.

Raymond James (NYSE:RJF) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.95 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.41 by $0.54. Raymond James had a net margin of 13.86% and a return on equity of 19.30%. The business had revenue of $3.46 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.32 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.13 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Raymond James will post 10.85 EPS for the current year.

Raymond James Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 16th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 2nd will be issued a $0.50 dividend. This is an increase from Raymond James’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, January 2nd. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.27%. Raymond James’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 20.60%.

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.