Kentucky Trust Co Buys Shares of 980 Raymond James (NYSE:RJF)

Kentucky Trust Co acquired a new stake in Raymond James (NYSE:RJF) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 980 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $152,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in 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 valued at $1,483,542,000 after acquiring an additional 2,898,242 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in 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 worth $556,533,000 after buying an additional 488,245 shares during the last quarter. Ceredex Value Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Raymond James by 191.3% in 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 bought a new position in shares of Raymond James in the third quarter worth about $34,105,000. Finally, Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Raymond James during the third quarter worth approximately $28,985,000. 83.83% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Raymond James

In other news, insider Tashtego S. Elwyn sold 10,000 shares of Raymond James stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the sale, the insider now owns 32,688 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,212,755.36. This trade represents a 23.43 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Bella Loykhter Allaire sold 1,170 shares of the firm’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 directly owns 80,421 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,625,730.03. This 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 in the last ninety days. 0.54% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently weighed in on RJF shares. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Raymond James from $198.00 to $201.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Raymond James from $166.00 to $172.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Raymond James from $168.00 to $176.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. JMP Securities lifted their price objective on Raymond James from $175.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on shares of Raymond James from $170.00 to $177.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $166.09.

Raymond James Stock Performance

Shares of RJF opened at $162.94 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $161.95 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $142.92. 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 twelve month low of $104.24 and a twelve month high of $174.32. The firm has a market cap of $33.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.90, a PEG ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 1.03.

Raymond James (NYSE:RJF) last released its earnings results 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 19.99% and a net margin of 14.06%. On average, analysts forecast that Raymond James will post 11.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Raymond James Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 16th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 2nd were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, January 2nd. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.23%. This is an increase from Raymond James’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. Raymond James’s dividend payout ratio is 19.51%.

Raymond James 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.