Principal Securities Inc. Increases Stock Holdings in Raymond James (NYSE:RJF)

Principal Securities Inc. boosted its position in Raymond James (NYSE:RJF) by 7.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 2,092 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 142 shares during the period. Principal Securities Inc.’s holdings in Raymond James were worth $325,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Gladius Capital Management LP purchased a new position in Raymond James in the third quarter worth about $34,000. Y.D. More Investments Ltd boosted its position in Raymond James by 121.0% in the fourth quarter. Y.D. More Investments Ltd now owns 232 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 127 shares during the last quarter. Peterson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in Raymond James in the third quarter worth about $37,000. Quarry LP boosted its position in Raymond James by 80.3% in the third quarter. Quarry LP now owns 420 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $51,000 after purchasing an additional 187 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Eastern Bank purchased a new position in Raymond James in the fourth quarter worth about $68,000. 83.83% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently commented on RJF. TD Cowen raised their price objective on Raymond James from $128.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. UBS Group raised Raymond James from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective 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 raised their price objective on Raymond James from $170.00 to $177.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, JMP Securities raised their price objective on Raymond James from $175.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $166.09.

Raymond James Stock Down 2.4 %

Shares of RJF opened at $151.34 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. Raymond James has a 12-month low of $104.24 and a 12-month high of $174.32. The business’s 50 day moving average is $161.30 and its 200 day moving average is $145.31. The company has a market capitalization of $31.01 billion, a PE ratio of 14.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 1.03.

Raymond James (NYSE:RJF) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $2.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.62 by $0.31. Raymond James had a return on equity of 19.71% and a net margin of 14.06%. Research analysts expect that Raymond James will post 11.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Raymond James Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 1st will be paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.32%. Raymond James’s payout ratio is 19.51%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Raymond James news, CEO Paul C. Reilly sold 50,000 shares of Raymond James 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 283,110 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $47,364,303. The trade was a 15.01 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Tashtego S. Elwyn sold 10,000 shares of Raymond James stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $159.47, for a total value of $1,594,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 32,688 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,212,755.36. The trade was a 23.43 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 64,621 shares of company stock valued at $10,729,488 in the last quarter. 0.54% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.