Commonwealth Equity Services LLC Lowers Holdings in Raymond James Financial, Inc. $RJF

Commonwealth Equity Services LLC decreased its stake in Raymond James Financial, Inc. (NYSE:RJF) by 42.0% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 30,991 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 22,457 shares during the quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC’s holdings in Raymond James Financial were worth $4,977,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Raymond James Financial in the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. Anfield Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Raymond James Financial in the third quarter worth about $33,000. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC boosted its stake in shares of Raymond James Financial by 452.6% in the fourth quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC now owns 210 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 172 shares during the last quarter. Hilton Head Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Raymond James Financial in the fourth quarter worth about $35,000. Finally, Salomon & Ludwin LLC boosted its stake in shares of Raymond James Financial by 34.8% in the fourth quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 252 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.83% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Raymond James Financial

In other Raymond James Financial news, insider Bella Loykhter Allaire sold 29,551 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $142.34, for a total transaction of $4,206,289.34. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 53,586 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,627,431.24. This represents a 35.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.58% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently commented on RJF shares. TD Cowen lowered their target price on Raymond James Financial from $159.00 to $155.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 28th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $166.00 price target (up from $158.00) on shares of Raymond James Financial in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price target on Raymond James Financial from $165.00 to $145.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 6th. Barclays reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $182.00 price target (up from $174.00) on shares of Raymond James Financial in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on Raymond James Financial from $152.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Raymond James Financial has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $172.92.

Raymond James Financial Stock Performance

Shares of RJF stock opened at $151.48 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $29.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.32, a P/E/G ratio of 1.16 and a beta of 0.94. The business’s 50 day moving average is $150.20 and its two-hundred day moving average is $156.64. The company has a current ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44. Raymond James Financial, Inc. has a 12-month low of $138.82 and a 12-month high of $177.66.

Raymond James Financial (NYSE:RJF) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The financial services provider reported $2.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.76 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $3.86 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.92 billion. Raymond James Financial had a return on equity of 17.93% and a net margin of 13.04%.Raymond James Financial’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.42 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Raymond James Financial, Inc. will post 11.82 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Raymond James Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 1st will be issued a dividend of $0.54 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 1st. This represents a $2.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.4%. Raymond James Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 20.42%.

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.