Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. Cuts Holdings in Raymond James (NYSE:RJF)

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. trimmed its position in Raymond James (NYSE:RJF) by 1.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 503,108 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 8,280 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. owned about 0.24% of Raymond James worth $56,097,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in RJF. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in shares of Raymond James by 80.5% in the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 5,629,875 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $618,780,000 after acquiring an additional 2,510,966 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in Raymond James in the 4th quarter valued at $206,765,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in shares of Raymond James by 26.7% during the 1st quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 6,876,054 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $641,330,000 after purchasing an additional 1,448,047 shares during the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans raised its stake in shares of Raymond James by 214.5% during the 1st quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 1,141,564 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $106,474,000 after purchasing an additional 778,644 shares during the period. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted its holdings in shares of Raymond James by 35.1% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 2,278,272 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $243,433,000 after buying an additional 591,327 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.83% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently issued reports on RJF shares. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “hold” rating and set a $117.00 price objective (up previously from $112.00) on shares of Raymond James in a report on Tuesday, January 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Raymond James from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $110.00 to $135.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 10th. TD Cowen upped their price objective on Raymond James from $116.50 to $131.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. UBS Group decreased their target price on Raymond James from $116.00 to $115.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 25th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Raymond James from $113.00 to $123.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Raymond James has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $123.88.

Raymond James Trading Up 0.0 %

NYSE:RJF opened at $121.96 on Friday. Raymond James has a 1 year low of $82.00 and a 1 year high of $131.19. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $122.16 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $111.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 0.99 and a quick ratio of 0.97. The company has a market cap of $25.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.28, a P/E/G ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.05.

Raymond James (NYSE:RJF) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.25 by $0.15. Raymond James had a return on equity of 17.95% and a net margin of 12.81%. The business had revenue of $3.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.01 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.29 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Raymond James will post 9.36 EPS for the current year.

Raymond James Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Investors of record on Monday, April 1st were paid a dividend of $0.45 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 28th. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.48%. Raymond James’s dividend payout ratio is currently 22.56%.

Insider Activity at Raymond James

In other news, Director Art A. Garcia purchased 879 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 9th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $112.30 per share, with a total value of $98,711.70. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 879 shares in the company, valued at $98,711.70. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, Director Art A. Garcia purchased 879 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 9th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $112.30 per share, with a total value of $98,711.70. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 879 shares in the company, valued at approximately $98,711.70. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Jonathan N. Santelli sold 1,891 shares of Raymond James stock in a transaction on Monday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $111.91, for a total value of $211,621.81. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 21,491 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,405,057.81. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 9.74% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.