Allstate Corp Increases Stock Position in Raymond James Financial, Inc. $RJF

Allstate Corp increased its stake in shares of Raymond James Financial, Inc. (NYSE:RJF) by 108.3% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 13,767 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 7,158 shares during the period. Allstate Corp’s holdings in Raymond James Financial were worth $2,211,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Raymond James Financial by 6.9% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 392,663 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $63,058,000 after buying an additional 25,410 shares during the period. Clearstead Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Raymond James Financial by 150.4% in the fourth quarter. Clearstead Advisors LLC now owns 561 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $90,000 after acquiring an additional 337 shares during the last quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Raymond James Financial by 81.7% in the fourth quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC now owns 54,812 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $8,802,000 after acquiring an additional 24,646 shares during the last quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP lifted its stake in Raymond James Financial by 17.4% in the fourth quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP now owns 29,351 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,713,000 after acquiring an additional 4,350 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Swedbank AB raised its holdings in shares of Raymond James Financial by 31.1% in the 4th quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 41,436 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $6,654,000 after purchasing an additional 9,838 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.83% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Raymond James Financial

In other news, insider Bella Loykhter Allaire sold 29,551 shares of Raymond James Financial stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $142.34, for a total value of $4,206,289.34. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 53,586 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,627,431.24. The trade was a 35.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.58% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

RJF has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Raymond James Financial from $171.00 to $172.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 28th. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and set a $166.00 price objective (up from $158.00) on shares of Raymond James Financial in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. Barclays restated an “overweight” rating and set a $182.00 price objective (up from $174.00) on shares of Raymond James Financial in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on Raymond James Financial from $152.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price target on shares of Raymond James Financial from $165.00 to $145.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 6th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Raymond James Financial has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $172.92.

Raymond James Financial Stock Performance

Shares of RJF stock opened at $142.28 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $27.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 0.99. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $149.81 and a 200-day simple moving average of $157.23. Raymond James Financial, Inc. has a 12-month low of $138.82 and a 12-month high of $177.66. The company has a current ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44.

Raymond James Financial (NYSE:RJF) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The financial services provider reported $2.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.76 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $3.86 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.92 billion. Raymond James Financial had a return on equity of 17.93% and a net margin of 13.04%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.42 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Raymond James Financial, Inc. will post 11.83 EPS for the current year.

Raymond James Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 1st will be issued a dividend of $0.54 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 1st. This represents a $2.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.5%. Raymond James Financial’s payout ratio is 20.42%.

Raymond James Financial Company Profile

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.