Brokerages Set Raymond James (NYSE:RJF) Target Price at $152.73

Shares of Raymond James (NYSE:RJF) have earned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the twelve ratings firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, three have assigned a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $156.09.

RJF has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded Raymond James from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $161.00 to $185.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Raymond James from $145.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 10th. JMP Securities lifted their price objective on shares of Raymond James from $146.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. TD Cowen boosted their target price on shares of Raymond James from $128.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on shares of Raymond James from $123.00 to $126.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, October 4th.

Raymond James Stock Up 3.1 %

RJF opened at $161.55 on Thursday. Raymond James has a fifty-two week low of $104.24 and a fifty-two week high of $171.38. The firm has a market capitalization of $33.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.64, a PEG ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 1.02. The company’s 50-day moving average is $160.42 and its 200 day moving average is $135.78. 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 (NYSE:RJF) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.95 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.41 by $0.54. The firm had revenue of $3.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.32 billion. Raymond James had a net margin of 13.86% and a return on equity of 19.30%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 13.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.13 EPS. Research analysts expect that Raymond James will post 10.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Raymond James Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 16th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 2nd will be paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.24%. This is a positive change from Raymond James’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, January 2nd. Raymond James’s payout ratio is presently 20.60%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Tashtego S. Elwyn sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 13th. The shares were 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 directly owns 32,688 shares in the company, valued at $5,212,755.36. The trade was a 23.43 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Bella Loykhter Allaire sold 1,170 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, November 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $169.43, for a total value of $198,233.10. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 80,421 shares in the company, valued at $13,625,730.03. This trade represents a 1.43 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 64,621 shares of company stock valued at $10,729,488. Corporate insiders own 0.54% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Raymond James

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in shares of Raymond James by 31.4% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 12,114,502 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,483,542,000 after purchasing an additional 2,898,242 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its position in Raymond James by 0.7% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,974,740 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $976,587,000 after purchasing an additional 54,265 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in Raymond James by 12.0% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,544,610 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $556,533,000 after buying an additional 488,245 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Raymond James by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,351,684 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $531,013,000 after buying an additional 12,869 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AGF Management Ltd. raised its position in shares of Raymond James by 17.2% during the 2nd quarter. AGF Management Ltd. now owns 2,580,467 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $318,972,000 after buying an additional 378,033 shares in the last quarter. 83.83% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.