Raymond James Financial, Inc. $RJF Shares Acquired by Plato Investment Management Ltd

Plato Investment Management Ltd grew its stake in Raymond James Financial, Inc. (NYSE:RJF) by 2,000.9% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 4,559 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,342 shares during the period. Plato Investment Management Ltd’s holdings in Raymond James Financial were worth $781,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. West Branch Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Raymond James Financial during the 3rd quarter worth $26,000. Salomon & Ludwin LLC purchased a new position in Raymond James Financial during the third quarter worth about $31,000. Quent Capital LLC purchased a new position in Raymond James Financial during the third quarter worth about $33,000. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Raymond James Financial by 69.0% in the 2nd quarter. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC now owns 245 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Root Financial Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Raymond James Financial in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $50,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.83% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Raymond James Financial

In other 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 transaction of $21,321,584.05. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 260,546 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $42,508,079.90. The trade was a 33.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.58% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. JMP Securities lifted their price target on shares of Raymond James Financial from $185.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 23rd. TD Cowen restated a “hold” rating on shares of Raymond James Financial in a research report on Wednesday, January 14th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on Raymond James Financial from $180.00 to $182.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 23rd. Morgan Stanley restated a “positive” rating on shares of Raymond James Financial in a report on Monday, December 22nd. Finally, Bank of America increased their target price on shares of Raymond James Financial from $194.00 to $196.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 10th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $182.17.

Raymond James Financial Stock Up 2.9%

Shares of RJF opened at $172.34 on Monday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $165.90 and its 200-day simple moving average is $165.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a current ratio of 1.07. Raymond James Financial, Inc. has a 1 year low of $117.57 and a 1 year high of $177.66. The stock has a market capitalization of $34.03 billion, a PE ratio of 16.86, a P/E/G ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.00.

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

Raymond James Financial Increases Dividend

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

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.