Raymond James (NYSE:RJF) Position Increased by Blue Trust Inc.

Blue Trust Inc. lifted its position in Raymond James (NYSE:RJF) by 15.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 5,407 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 713 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc.’s holdings in Raymond James were worth $840,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in Raymond James by 31.4% during the 3rd 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings 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 buying an additional 488,245 shares in the last quarter. Ceredex Value Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Raymond James by 191.3% during the third quarter. Ceredex Value Advisors LLC now owns 722,393 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $88,464,000 after buying an additional 474,443 shares in the last quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP purchased a new stake in Raymond James in the 3rd quarter worth about $34,105,000. Finally, Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Raymond James during the 3rd quarter worth about $28,985,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.83% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other Raymond James news, 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 283,110 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $47,364,303. This represents a 15.01 % decrease in their position. The sale 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 business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $169.43, for a total transaction of $198,233.10. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 80,421 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,625,730.03. The trade was a 1.43 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 64,621 shares of company stock valued at $10,729,488. 0.54% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. UBS Group raised shares of Raymond James from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Raymond James from $132.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. TD Cowen boosted their target price on Raymond James from $128.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Bank of America raised their price target on Raymond James from $136.00 to $152.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price objective on Raymond James from $145.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, January 10th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Raymond James presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $156.09.

Raymond James Price Performance

NYSE RJF opened at $172.13 on Thursday. Raymond James has a 1 year low of $104.24 and a 1 year high of $174.32. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $162.16 and a 200 day simple moving average of $139.40. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. The company has a market cap of $35.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.73, a P/E/G ratio of 1.04 and a beta of 1.02.

Raymond James (NYSE:RJF) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $2.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.62 by $0.31. Raymond James had a return on equity of 19.30% and a net margin of 13.86%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Raymond James will post 11.02 EPS for the current year.

Raymond James Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 16th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 2nd were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, January 2nd. This is a positive change from Raymond James’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.16%. Raymond James’s payout ratio 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.