Raymond James' (RJF) Equal Weight Rating Reaffirmed at Wells Fargo & Company

Wells Fargo & Company reissued their equal weight rating on shares of Raymond James (NYSE:RJF - Free Report) in a research report report published on Thursday morning, Marketbeat.com reports. The brokerage currently has a $169.00 target price on the financial services provider's stock, up from their previous target price of $152.00.

Other research analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. JMP Securities lifted their price target on shares of Raymond James from $146.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a "market outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Bank of America increased 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. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Raymond James from $132.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on Raymond James from $125.00 to $142.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, TD Cowen lifted their target price on Raymond James from $128.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Raymond James currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $142.45.

Raymond James Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of RJF stock traded down $1.14 on Thursday, hitting $160.37. The stock had a trading volume of 822,763 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,137,712. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. Raymond James has a twelve month low of $104.24 and a twelve month high of $171.38. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $151.07 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $129.56. The firm has a market cap of $32.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.58, a PEG ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 1.00.

Raymond James (NYSE:RJF - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.95 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.41 by $0.54. Raymond James had a return on equity of 19.30% and a net margin of 13.86%. The company had revenue of $3.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.32 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.13 earnings per share. Raymond James's revenue was up 13.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that Raymond James will post 10.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Raymond James Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 16th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 2nd will be paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, January 2nd. This is a boost from Raymond James's previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.25%. Raymond James's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 20.60%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Raymond James news, insider Bella Loykhter Allaire sold 1,170 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, November 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $169.43, for a total transaction of $198,233.10. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 80,421 shares of the company's stock, valued at $13,625,730.03. This trade represents a 1.43 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Paul C. Reilly sold 50,000 shares of Raymond James stock in a transaction 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 approximately $47,364,303. This trade represents a 15.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 54,621 shares of company stock valued at $9,134,788. 9.74% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Raymond James

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC lifted its holdings in Raymond James by 3,960.0% during the 3rd quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC now owns 203 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 198 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP bought a new position in Raymond James during the 2nd quarter worth $29,000. Future Financial Wealth Managment LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Raymond James during the third quarter worth $32,000. Gladius Capital Management LP bought a new stake in shares of Raymond James in the third quarter valued at about $34,000. Finally, Peterson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Raymond James in the third quarter valued at about $37,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.83% of the company's stock.

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.