Raymond James (NYSE:RJF) Receives $152.73 Average PT from Analysts

Raymond James (NYSE:RJF - Get Free Report) has been given a consensus recommendation of "Hold" by the twelve ratings firms that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12 month target price among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $152.73.

RJF has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of Raymond James from $123.00 to $126.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, October 4th. UBS Group raised Raymond James from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday. Bank of America boosted their target price on 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 target (up previously from $152.00) on shares of Raymond James in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, 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 report on Thursday, October 24th.

Insider Activity

In other Raymond James news, CEO Paul C. Reilly sold 50,000 shares of the business'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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 283,110 shares in the company, valued at $47,364,303. The trade was a 15.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, 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 sale, the insider now owns 32,688 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,212,755.36. The trade was a 23.43 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 64,621 shares of company stock worth $10,729,488. Corporate insiders own 9.74% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Raymond James

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of RJF. Bank of New Hampshire lifted its stake in Raymond James by 99,290.0% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New Hampshire now owns 9,939 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,544,000 after purchasing an additional 9,929 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its position in Raymond James by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 16,667 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,598,000 after acquiring an additional 389 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in Raymond James by 78.0% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,661 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $413,000 after purchasing an additional 1,166 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in shares of 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 valued at $556,533,000 after purchasing an additional 488,245 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Raymond James by 7.5% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 626,866 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $76,770,000 after purchasing an additional 43,601 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.83% of the company's stock.

Raymond James Stock Up 0.2 %

RJF stock traded up $0.34 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $159.32. The company had a trading volume of 863,738 shares, compared to its average volume of 969,568. Raymond James has a 52 week low of $104.24 and a 52 week high of $171.38. The company has a market capitalization of $32.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.41, a PEG ratio of 0.91 and a beta of 1.02. 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 50 day simple moving average of $159.83 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $134.90.

Raymond James (NYSE:RJF - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.95 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.41 by $0.54. The business had revenue of $3.46 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.32 billion. Raymond James had a net margin of 13.86% and a return on equity of 19.30%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 13.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.13 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Raymond James will post 10.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Raymond James Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 16th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.26%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, January 2nd. This is a positive change from Raymond James's previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. Raymond James's dividend payout ratio is presently 20.60%.

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.