Gateway Investment Advisers LLC Reduces Stock Position in Raymond James (NYSE:RJF)

Gateway Investment Advisers LLC lowered its stake in Raymond James (NYSE:RJF - Free Report) by 31.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,394 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 2,445 shares during the quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC's holdings in Raymond James were worth $838,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in RJF. American Century Companies Inc. increased its position in shares of Raymond James by 2.2% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 119,003 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $14,710,000 after purchasing an additional 2,531 shares during the last quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. raised its position in Raymond James by 9.1% in the second quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. now owns 3,111 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $385,000 after acquiring an additional 260 shares during the period. Seven Eight Capital LP raised its position in Raymond James by 40.3% in the second quarter. Seven Eight Capital LP now owns 8,464 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,042,000 after acquiring an additional 2,432 shares during the period. First Eagle Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of Raymond James by 47.9% during the 2nd quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 4,807 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $594,000 after acquiring an additional 1,557 shares during the period. Finally, XTX Topco Ltd increased its stake in shares of Raymond James by 390.7% in the 2nd quarter. XTX Topco Ltd now owns 8,351 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,032,000 after purchasing an additional 6,649 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.83% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

RJF has been the topic of several analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Raymond James from $169.00 to $168.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. JMP Securities increased their target price on shares of Raymond James from $146.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a "market outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on shares of Raymond James from $143.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Raymond James from $145.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Finally, UBS Group upgraded shares of Raymond James from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Nine investment 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, Raymond James presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $156.09.

Insider Transactions at Raymond James

In other news, insider Tashtego S. Elwyn sold 10,000 shares of Raymond James stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 32,688 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,212,755.36. The trade was a 23.43 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Paul C. Reilly sold 50,000 shares of the 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 283,110 shares in the company, 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 have sold a total of 64,621 shares of company stock worth $10,729,488 in the last three months. Insiders own 0.54% of the company's stock.

Raymond James Price Performance

Shares of RJF stock traded up $2.10 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $167.00. The stock had a trading volume of 1,389,160 shares, compared to its average volume of 968,784. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $34.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.20, a PEG ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 1.02. Raymond James has a one year low of $104.24 and a one year high of $171.38. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $160.77 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $136.56.

Raymond James (NYSE:RJF - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.41 by $0.54. Raymond James had a return on equity of 19.30% and a net margin of 13.86%. The business had revenue of $3.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.32 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.13 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 13.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Raymond James will post 10.99 EPS for the current year.

Raymond James Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 16th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 2nd were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, January 2nd. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.20%. This is a positive change from Raymond James's previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. 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.