Czech National Bank Has $6.16 Million Stock Position in Raymond James (NYSE:RJF)

Czech National Bank increased its holdings in shares of Raymond James (NYSE:RJF) by 5.1% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 39,672 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,915 shares during the quarter. Czech National Bank’s holdings in Raymond James were worth $6,162,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in RJF. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Raymond James by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 39,128 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $6,078,000 after purchasing an additional 769 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New Hampshire raised its holdings in Raymond James by 99,290.0% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New Hampshire now owns 9,939 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,544,000 after buying an additional 9,929 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its stake in Raymond James by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 16,667 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,598,000 after buying an additional 389 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Raymond James by 78.0% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,661 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $413,000 after buying an additional 1,166 shares during the period. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 488,245 shares in the last quarter. 83.83% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

RJF has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. JMP Securities upped their target price on shares of Raymond James from $146.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $166.00 price objective (up from $151.00) on shares of Raymond James in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on Raymond James from $143.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. UBS Group raised Raymond James from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Raymond James from $132.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Raymond James currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $156.09.

Raymond James Stock Performance

NYSE RJF opened at $156.89 on Wednesday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $160.21 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $135.54. Raymond James has a 1 year low of $104.24 and a 1 year high of $171.38. The firm has a market capitalization of $32.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.91 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37.

Raymond James (NYSE:RJF) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.41 by $0.54. The company had revenue of $3.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.32 billion. Raymond James had a net margin of 13.86% and a return on equity of 19.30%. Raymond James’s quarterly revenue was up 13.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.13 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Raymond James will post 10.85 EPS for the current year.

Raymond James Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 16th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 2nd will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, January 2nd. 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 dividend yield of 1.27%. Raymond James’s payout ratio is presently 20.60%.

Insider Activity at Raymond James

In related news, insider Bella Loykhter Allaire sold 3,451 shares of Raymond James stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 3rd. The shares were 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 owns 80,421 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,319,326.02. The trade was a 4.11 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Tashtego S. Elwyn sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $159.47, for a total transaction of $1,594,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 32,688 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,212,755.36. This represents a 23.43 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 64,621 shares of company stock worth $10,729,488. Company insiders own 9.74% of the company’s stock.

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.