New York State Common Retirement Fund Decreases Stock Position in Raymond James (NYSE:RJF)

New York State Common Retirement Fund cut its stake in Raymond James (NYSE:RJF) by 8.8% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 329,887 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 31,851 shares during the quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund’s holdings in Raymond James were worth $51,241,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Y.D. More Investments Ltd raised its stake in Raymond James by 121.0% in the fourth quarter. Y.D. More Investments Ltd now owns 232 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 127 shares in the last quarter. Gladius Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in Raymond James in the third quarter valued at $34,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Raymond James in the third quarter valued at $37,000. Quarry LP raised its stake in Raymond James by 80.3% in the third quarter. Quarry LP now owns 420 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $51,000 after buying an additional 187 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Eastern Bank acquired a new stake in Raymond James in the fourth quarter valued at $68,000. 83.83% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

RJF has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company raised 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. Citigroup lifted their target price on Raymond James from $145.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Raymond James from $132.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on Raymond James from $170.00 to $177.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, UBS Group upgraded Raymond James from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Nine 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, Raymond James presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $166.09.

Raymond James Stock Performance

Shares of RJF stock opened at $159.61 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $32.71 billion, a PE ratio of 15.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.93 and a beta of 1.03. Raymond James has a 52-week low of $104.24 and a 52-week high of $174.32. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $161.59 and its 200 day moving average price is $144.66. The company has a quick ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35.

Raymond James (NYSE:RJF) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $2.93 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Raymond James will post 11.12 EPS for the current year.

Raymond James Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 16th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 2nd were issued a $0.50 dividend. 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. This is a positive change from Raymond James’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. Raymond James’s payout ratio is currently 19.51%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Raymond James

In other Raymond James news, insider Bella Loykhter Allaire sold 1,170 shares of Raymond James stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $169.43, for a total value of $198,233.10. Following the sale, the insider now owns 80,421 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,625,730.03. The trade was a 1.43 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Tashtego S. Elwyn sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $159.47, for a total value of $1,594,700.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 32,688 shares in the company, valued at $5,212,755.36. This trade represents a 23.43 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 64,621 shares of company stock valued at $10,729,488. 0.54% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Raymond James Company 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.