Raymond James (NYSE:RJF) Stock Rating Upgraded by 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 research report sent to investors on Monday morning, MarketBeat.com 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 research analysts have also recently commented on RJF. JMP Securities increased their target price on Raymond James from $146.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on shares of Raymond James from $123.00 to $126.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, October 4th. TD Cowen lifted their target price on shares of Raymond James from $128.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on shares of Raymond James from $143.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Raymond James from $132.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $149.91.

Raymond James Trading Up 1.1 %

Shares of NYSE RJF opened at $159.39 on Monday. Raymond James has a 1 year low of $104.24 and a 1 year high of $171.38. 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 firm has a 50-day moving average of $159.21 and a 200 day moving average of $134.29. The stock has a market cap of $32.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.91 and a beta of 1.02.

Raymond James (NYSE:RJF) last released its earnings results 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.32 billion. Raymond James had a net margin of 13.86% and a return on equity of 19.30%. The business’s revenue was up 13.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.13 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Raymond James will post 10.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Raymond James Increases Dividend

The company 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.25%. This is a boost 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 is presently 20.60%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Paul C. Reilly sold 50,000 shares of Raymond James stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 283,110 shares in the company, valued at $47,364,303. This trade represents a 15.01 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Bella Loykhter Allaire sold 1,170 shares of the company’s 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $13,625,730.03. This trade represents a 1.43 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 64,621 shares of company stock valued at $10,729,488 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 9.74% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Raymond James

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in shares of Raymond James by 31.4% in 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 buying an additional 2,898,242 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in Raymond James by 12.0% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,544,610 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $556,533,000 after acquiring an additional 488,245 shares during the period. Ceredex Value Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 474,443 shares in the last quarter. AGF Management Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Raymond James by 17.2% in the second quarter. AGF Management Ltd. now owns 2,580,467 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $318,972,000 after purchasing an additional 378,033 shares during the period. Finally, Two Sigma Advisers LP purchased a new stake in shares of Raymond James in the third quarter worth $34,105,000. 83.83% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.