Principal Financial Group Inc. Decreases Stake in Raymond James Financial, Inc. $RJF

Principal Financial Group Inc. cut its stake in shares of Raymond James Financial, Inc. (NYSE:RJF) by 4.7% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 575,952 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 28,121 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Raymond James Financial were worth $99,411,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Primecap Management Co. CA lifted its stake in Raymond James Financial by 3.0% in the second quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 10,013,852 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,535,824,000 after acquiring an additional 295,163 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in shares of Raymond James Financial by 41.6% in the 2nd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 5,616,998 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $861,479,000 after purchasing an additional 1,651,380 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of Raymond James Financial by 39.9% in the 2nd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 2,485,569 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $381,212,000 after purchasing an additional 709,315 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its position in shares of Raymond James Financial by 3.1% during the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,406,749 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $369,123,000 after purchasing an additional 71,495 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Raymond James Financial during the second quarter worth $354,446,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.83% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have weighed in on the company. Barclays started coverage on Raymond James Financial in a research note on Wednesday, January 28th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $191.00 price target on the stock. JMP Securities increased their price objective on Raymond James Financial from $185.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 23rd. Citigroup reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Raymond James Financial in a research report on Thursday, October 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on Raymond James Financial from $174.00 to $181.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 23rd. Finally, TD Cowen reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Raymond James Financial in a research note on Wednesday, January 14th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $182.17.

Raymond James Financial Stock Performance

Shares of Raymond James Financial stock opened at $167.44 on Tuesday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $164.84 and its 200-day simple moving average is $164.85. Raymond James Financial, Inc. has a 12 month low of $117.57 and a 12 month high of $177.66. The stock has a market capitalization of $33.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.38, a PEG ratio of 1.30 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 1.07 and a quick ratio of 1.04.

Raymond James Financial (NYSE:RJF) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The financial services provider reported $2.86 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.83 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $3.74 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.83 billion. Raymond James Financial had a net margin of 13.07% and a return on equity of 17.74%. Raymond James Financial’s quarterly revenue was up 5.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.93 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Raymond James Financial, Inc. will post 11.17 earnings per share for the current year.

Raymond James Financial Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 16th. Investors of record on Friday, January 2nd were issued a dividend of $0.54 per share. This is an increase from Raymond James Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 2nd. Raymond James Financial’s dividend payout ratio is 21.14%.

Insider Transactions at Raymond James Financial

In related news, insider Paul C. Reilly sold 130,687 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $163.15, for a total value of $21,321,584.05. Following the transaction, the insider owned 260,546 shares in the company, valued at $42,508,079.90. The trade was a 33.40% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.58% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

About Raymond James Financial

Raymond James Financial is a diversified financial services firm headquartered in St. Petersburg, Florida. Founded in 1962, the company provides a range of services to individual investors, businesses and institutions through a combination of wealth management, capital markets, investment banking, asset management, banking and trust services. Its business model centers on a network of financial advisors and broker-dealer operations that deliver personalized financial planning, investment advisory services and brokerage solutions.

The firm’s core offerings include private client wealth management delivered by independent and employee advisors, equity and fixed-income research, institutional sales and trading, and investment banking services such as mergers and acquisitions advisory and capital raising.