Raymond James Financial (NYSE:RJF) Price Target Raised to $187.00

Raymond James Financial (NYSE:RJF) had its price target raised by TD Cowen from $180.00 to $187.00 in a report issued on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a hold rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

Several other analysts also recently issued reports on the company. Bank of America upped their price objective on Raymond James Financial from $194.00 to $196.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 10th. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of Raymond James Financial from $180.00 to $182.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 23rd. UBS Group set a $176.00 price target on shares of Raymond James Financial and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 11th. Citigroup reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Raymond James Financial in a report on Thursday, October 9th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on shares of Raymond James Financial from $174.00 to $181.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 23rd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Raymond James Financial presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $181.36.

Raymond James Financial Trading Up 0.3%

Shares of RJF opened at $172.11 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 1.07 and a quick ratio of 1.04. Raymond James Financial has a 1-year low of $117.57 and a 1-year high of $177.66. The stock has a market cap of $33.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 0.99. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $162.41 and a 200-day simple moving average of $163.93.

Raymond James Financial (NYSE:RJF) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 22nd. The financial services provider reported $3.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.83 by $0.28. The firm had revenue of $3.73 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.64 billion. Raymond James Financial had a return on equity of 18.19% and a net margin of 13.42%.Raymond James Financial’s revenue was up 7.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.95 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Raymond James Financial will post 11.17 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Raymond James Financial Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 2nd were issued a dividend of $0.54 per share. This represents a $2.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 2nd. This is an increase from Raymond James Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Raymond James Financial’s payout ratio is currently 20.99%.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Paul C. Reilly sold 130,687 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $163.15, for a total value of $21,321,584.05. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 260,546 shares in the company, valued at approximately $42,508,079.90. The trade was a 33.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.58% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Raymond James Financial

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Primecap Management Co. CA grew its stake in shares of Raymond James Financial by 3.0% during the 2nd quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 10,013,852 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,535,824,000 after buying an additional 295,163 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in Raymond James Financial by 4.1% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 5,847,869 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,009,342,000 after acquiring an additional 230,871 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP grew its position in Raymond James Financial by 4.5% during the third quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 2,597,519 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $448,332,000 after acquiring an additional 111,950 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its position in Raymond James Financial by 3.1% during the second quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,406,749 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $369,123,000 after acquiring an additional 71,495 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in Raymond James Financial by 10.7% during the third quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,357,328 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $406,941,000 after acquiring an additional 227,337 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.83% of the company’s stock.

About Raymond James Financial

Raymond James Financial is a diversified financial services firm headquartered in St. Petersburg, Florida. Founded in 1962, the company provides a range of services to individual investors, businesses and institutions through a combination of wealth management, capital markets, investment banking, asset management, banking and trust services. Its business model centers on a network of financial advisors and broker-dealer operations that deliver personalized financial planning, investment advisory services and brokerage solutions.

The firm’s core offerings include private client wealth management delivered by independent and employee advisors, equity and fixed-income research, institutional sales and trading, and investment banking services such as mergers and acquisitions advisory and capital raising.