Nicholas Company Inc. Sells 11,102 Shares of Raymond James (NYSE:RJF)

Nicholas Company Inc. trimmed its position in Raymond James (NYSE:RJF) by 6.2% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 168,485 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 11,102 shares during the quarter. Nicholas Company Inc.’s holdings in Raymond James were worth $26,171,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Eldridge Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Raymond James in the 4th quarter valued at about $243,000. Corient Private Wealth LLC grew its stake in Raymond James by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 21,282 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,305,000 after buying an additional 658 shares during the last quarter. one8zero8 LLC acquired a new position in Raymond James in the 4th quarter valued at about $565,000. Natixis Advisors LLC grew its stake in Raymond James by 5.7% in the 4th quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 252,643 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $39,242,000 after buying an additional 13,512 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Catalyst Funds Management Pty Ltd grew its stake in Raymond James by 500.0% in the 4th quarter. Catalyst Funds Management Pty Ltd now owns 2,400 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $373,000 after buying an additional 2,000 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.83% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

RJF has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Raymond James from $149.00 to $161.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. UBS Group upgraded shares of Raymond James from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on shares of Raymond James from $170.00 to $177.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. JMP Securities increased their target price on shares of Raymond James from $175.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Bank of America increased their target price on shares of Raymond James from $198.00 to $201.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Raymond James presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $167.55.

Raymond James Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:RJF opened at $142.64 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $29.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.92, a PEG ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 1.01. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $158.23 and a 200 day simple moving average of $148.64. Raymond James has a one year low of $104.24 and a one year high of $174.32.

Raymond James (NYSE:RJF) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 19.71%. Research analysts predict that Raymond James will post 11.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Raymond James Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 1st will be paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.40%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 1st. Raymond James’s payout ratio is currently 19.51%.

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.