Raymond James (NYSE:RJF) Upgraded at The Goldman Sachs Group

The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Raymond James (NYSE:RJF) from a neutral rating to a buy rating in a report published on Monday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The brokerage currently has $185.00 target price on the financial services provider’s stock, up from their prior target price of $161.00.

A number of other equities analysts also recently commented on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on shares of Raymond James from $143.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on shares of Raymond James from $123.00 to $126.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, October 4th. JMP Securities increased 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 note on Thursday, October 24th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price 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. Finally, Bank of America increased their price target on Raymond James from $136.00 to $152.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $152.73.

Raymond James Price Performance

RJF opened at $159.32 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $32.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.41, a PEG ratio of 0.91 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a 50-day moving average of $159.61 and a 200-day moving average of $134.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 1.02. Raymond James has a 1-year low of $104.24 and a 1-year high of $171.38.

Raymond James (NYSE:RJF) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 return on equity of 19.30% and a net margin of 13.86%. Raymond James’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.13 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Raymond James will post 10.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Raymond James Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 16th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 2nd will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.26%. 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 dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 20.60%.

Insider Activity at Raymond James

In related news, insider Bella Loykhter Allaire sold 1,170 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the insider now owns 80,421 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,625,730.03. The trade was a 1.43 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Paul C. Reilly sold 50,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 2nd. The stock was 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 owns 283,110 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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. Insiders have sold a total of 64,621 shares of company stock worth $10,729,488 over the last ninety days. 9.74% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC boosted its position in shares of 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 valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 198 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP acquired a new stake in Raymond James during the second quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Future Financial Wealth Managment LLC bought a new stake in Raymond James during the third quarter worth approximately $32,000. Gladius Capital Management LP acquired a new position in Raymond James in the third quarter worth approximately $34,000. Finally, Peterson Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Raymond James in the third quarter valued at $37,000. 83.83% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.