Raymond James’ (RJF) “Neutral” Rating Reiterated at JPMorgan Chase & Co.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated their neutral rating on shares of Raymond James (NYSE:RJF) in a research report sent to investors on Tuesday morning, Marketbeat Ratings reports. They currently have a $166.00 target price on the financial services provider’s stock, up from their prior target price of $151.00.

Several other research analysts also recently weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Raymond James from $132.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on shares of Raymond James from $143.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $169.00 target price (up previously from $152.00) on shares of Raymond James in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. JMP Securities boosted their target price 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. Finally, TD Cowen raised their price target 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. Nine 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $152.73.

Raymond James Stock Up 0.2 %

RJF opened at $159.32 on Tuesday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $159.83 and a two-hundred day moving average of $134.90. The stock has a market capitalization of $32.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.41, a PEG ratio of 0.91 and a beta of 1.02. Raymond James has a fifty-two week low of $104.24 and a fifty-two week high of $171.38. 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 (NYSE:RJF) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.95 earnings per share 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 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 previous year, the business earned $2.13 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Raymond James will post 10.85 earnings per share for the current year.

Raymond James Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced 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 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 1.26%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, January 2nd. Raymond James’s payout ratio is currently 20.60%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Paul C. Reilly sold 50,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $47,364,303. The trade was a 15.01 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Tashtego S. Elwyn sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $159.47, for a total transaction of $1,594,700.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 32,688 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,212,755.36. The trade was a 23.43 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 64,621 shares of company stock worth $10,729,488 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 9.74% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Raymond James

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

Raymond James Company Profile

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.