Raymond James (NYSE:RJF) Given New $170.00 Price Target at Citigroup

Raymond James (NYSE:RJF) had its price target lifted by Citigroup from $145.00 to $170.00 in a research note published on Friday,Benzinga reports. Citigroup currently has a neutral rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

A number of other brokerages have also issued reports on RJF. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and issued a $169.00 target price (up from $152.00) on shares of Raymond James in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Raymond James from $132.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. UBS Group raised shares of Raymond James from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. TD Cowen upped their target price on shares of Raymond James from $128.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Bank of America lifted their price target on Raymond James from $136.00 to $152.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Nine 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Raymond James has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $156.18.

Raymond James Price Performance

Shares of RJF stock opened at $154.41 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $159.83 and a 200-day simple moving average of $134.90. The company has a market capitalization of $31.51 billion, a PE ratio of 15.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.91 and a beta of 1.02. Raymond James has a twelve month low of $104.24 and a twelve month high of $171.38. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37.

Raymond James (NYSE:RJF) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.95 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.41 by $0.54. Raymond James had a net margin of 13.86% and a return on equity of 19.30%. The company had revenue of $3.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.32 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.13 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Raymond James will post 10.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Raymond James Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 16th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 2nd will be paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.30%. This is a positive change from Raymond James’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, January 2nd. Raymond James’s payout ratio is presently 20.60%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Raymond James news, insider Tashtego S. Elwyn sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $159.47, for a total transaction of $1,594,700.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 32,688 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,212,755.36. The trade was a 23.43 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Bella Loykhter Allaire sold 1,170 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $169.43, for a total transaction of $198,233.10. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 80,421 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,625,730.03. This represents a 1.43 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 64,621 shares of company stock worth $10,729,488. Insiders own 9.74% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Raymond James

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in Raymond James by 31.4% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 12,114,502 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,483,542,000 after acquiring an additional 2,898,242 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in Raymond James by 12.0% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,544,610 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $556,533,000 after purchasing an additional 488,245 shares during the last quarter. Ceredex Value Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Raymond James by 191.3% during the third quarter. Ceredex Value Advisors LLC now owns 722,393 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $88,464,000 after buying an additional 474,443 shares in the last quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP acquired a new position in Raymond James in the third quarter worth approximately $34,105,000. Finally, Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Raymond James in the third quarter valued at $28,985,000. Institutional investors own 83.83% of the company’s stock.

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.