Venturi Wealth Management LLC Increases Stock Holdings in Raymond James (NYSE:RJF)

Venturi Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Raymond James (NYSE:RJF) by 1,966.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,245 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,088 shares during the period. Venturi Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Raymond James were worth $504,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted 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 worth $1,483,542,000 after purchasing an additional 2,898,242 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its position in Raymond James by 0.7% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,974,740 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $976,587,000 after purchasing an additional 54,265 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in Raymond James by 12.0% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,544,610 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $556,533,000 after purchasing an additional 488,245 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Raymond James by 0.3% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,351,684 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $531,013,000 after purchasing an additional 12,869 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in Raymond James by 0.7% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,064,349 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $130,340,000 after purchasing an additional 7,121 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.83% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

RJF has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Bank of America boosted their price objective on Raymond James from $198.00 to $201.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. TD Cowen upped their price target on Raymond James from $128.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 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 report on Thursday, January 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Raymond James from $166.00 to $172.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Citigroup upped their price target on Raymond James from $145.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $166.09.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Bella Loykhter Allaire sold 3,451 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.62, for a total transaction of $571,554.62. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 80,421 shares in the company, valued at $13,319,326.02. This represents a 4.11 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Paul C. Reilly sold 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 2nd. The shares were 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. This represents a 15.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 64,621 shares of company stock worth $10,729,488. 0.54% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Raymond James Stock Performance

NYSE:RJF opened at $159.61 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.03. Raymond James has a 52-week low of $104.24 and a 52-week high of $174.32. The firm has a market cap of $32.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.57, a PEG ratio of 0.93 and a beta of 1.03. The business’s fifty day moving average is $161.59 and its 200 day moving average is $144.66.

Raymond James (NYSE:RJF) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $2.93 earnings per share 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 predict that Raymond James will post 11.12 EPS for the current year.

Raymond James Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 16th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 2nd were paid a $0.50 dividend. This is a positive change from Raymond James’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.25%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, January 2nd. Raymond James’s dividend payout ratio is currently 19.51%.

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.