Essex Financial Services Inc. Decreases Stake in Raymond James (NYSE:RJF)

Essex Financial Services Inc. decreased its position in Raymond James (NYSE:RJF) by 3.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 2,761 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 93 shares during the period. Essex Financial Services Inc.’s holdings in Raymond James were worth $429,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in RJF. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in Raymond James by 31.4% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 12,114,502 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,483,542,000 after buying an additional 2,898,242 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in shares of Raymond James by 12.0% during the 3rd 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. Ceredex Value Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Raymond James by 191.3% during the 3rd quarter. Ceredex Value Advisors LLC now owns 722,393 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $88,464,000 after purchasing an additional 474,443 shares during the last quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP purchased a new stake in shares of Raymond James during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $34,105,000. Finally, Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Raymond James during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $28,985,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.83% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

RJF has been the subject of several research analyst reports. TD Cowen raised their price target on shares of Raymond James from $128.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Raymond James from $145.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Raymond James from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $161.00 to $185.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of Raymond James from $198.00 to $201.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, UBS Group upgraded shares of Raymond James from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Nine 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $166.09.

Insider Buying and Selling at Raymond James

In other Raymond James news, insider Bella Loykhter Allaire sold 1,170 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $169.43, for a total value of $198,233.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 80,421 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,625,730.03. This trade represents a 1.43 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Tashtego S. Elwyn sold 10,000 shares of Raymond James stock in a transaction on Friday, December 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $159.47, for a total transaction of $1,594,700.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 32,688 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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. Insiders sold a total of 64,621 shares of company stock valued at $10,729,488 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.54% of the company’s stock.

Raymond James Stock Down 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE:RJF opened at $160.34 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $161.75 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $143.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 1.00. Raymond James has a one year low of $104.24 and a one year high of $174.32. The company has a market cap of $32.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.64, a PEG ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 1.03.

Raymond James (NYSE:RJF) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $2.93 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.62 by $0.31. Raymond James had a net margin of 14.06% and a return on equity of 19.99%. Analysts anticipate that Raymond James will post 11.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Raymond James Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.25%. This is an increase from Raymond James’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, January 2nd. Raymond James’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 19.51%.

Raymond James 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.