Raymond James (NYSE:RJF) Rating Increased to Buy at The Goldman Sachs Group

Raymond James (NYSE:RJF) was upgraded by The Goldman Sachs Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note issued on Monday,Briefing.com Automated Import reports. The brokerage presently has a $185.00 target price on the financial services provider’s stock, up from their prior target price of $161.00. The Goldman Sachs Group’s price objective suggests a potential upside of 17.30% from the company’s previous close.

RJF has been the topic of a number of other research reports. JMP Securities increased their price target on Raymond James from $146.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on Raymond James from $123.00 to $126.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, October 4th. Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of Raymond James from $136.00 to $152.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and set a $169.00 price objective (up from $152.00) on shares of Raymond James in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Raymond James from $132.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Raymond James currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $149.91.

Raymond James Price Performance

NYSE:RJF opened at $157.72 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 1.00. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $158.98 and a 200-day moving average price of $134.00. Raymond James has a 1-year low of $104.24 and a 1-year high of $171.38. The firm has a market cap of $32.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.91 and a beta of 1.02.

Raymond James (NYSE:RJF) last released 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 company had revenue of $3.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.32 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.13 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Raymond James will post 10.85 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Tashtego S. Elwyn sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the insider now owns 32,688 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,212,755.36. This represents a 23.43 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Paul C. Reilly sold 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $167.30, for a total transaction of $8,365,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 283,110 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $47,364,303. The trade was a 15.01 % 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 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 9.74% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in Raymond James by 1.6% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 568,070 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $73,940,000 after acquiring an additional 9,217 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. grew its stake in Raymond James by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 473,140 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $57,941,000 after acquiring an additional 7,028 shares during the period. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise acquired a new position in Raymond James in the third quarter valued at $3,561,000. XTX Topco Ltd boosted its position in shares of Raymond James by 390.7% in the second quarter. XTX Topco Ltd now owns 8,351 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,032,000 after acquiring an additional 6,649 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund grew its stake in shares of Raymond James by 109.3% during the 2nd quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 111,462 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $13,778,000 after buying an additional 58,200 shares during the period. 83.83% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Raymond James Company 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.