1,978 Shares in Raymond James (NYSE:RJF) Acquired by Stratos Wealth Partners LTD.

Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. purchased a new position in shares of Raymond James (NYSE:RJF) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 1,978 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $221,000.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of RJF. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in Raymond James by 80.5% during the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 5,629,875 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $618,780,000 after buying an additional 2,510,966 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Raymond James during the 4th quarter worth $206,765,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in 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 worth $641,330,000 after buying an additional 1,448,047 shares in the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lifted its holdings in 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 buying an additional 778,644 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted its holdings in Raymond James by 35.1% during 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 in the last quarter. 83.83% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have issued reports on RJF shares. Citigroup upped their price objective on Raymond James from $112.00 to $132.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. StockNews.com downgraded Raymond James from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 9th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Raymond James from $113.00 to $123.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $117.00 price target (up previously from $112.00) on shares of Raymond James in a research note on Tuesday, January 9th. Finally, JMP Securities reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Raymond James in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $123.88.

Raymond James Price Performance

RJF opened at $121.82 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. Raymond James has a 12 month low of $82.00 and a 12 month high of $131.19. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $121.75 and a 200 day simple moving average of $111.25. The stock has a market cap of $25.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.27, a P/E/G ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.05.

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

Raymond James Dividend Announcement

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Art A. Garcia bought 879 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 9th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $112.30 per share, for a total transaction of $98,711.70. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 879 shares in the company, valued at $98,711.70. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, Director Art A. Garcia bought 879 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 9th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $112.30 per share, for a total transaction of $98,711.70. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 879 shares in the company, valued at $98,711.70. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Jonathan N. Santelli sold 1,891 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $111.91, for a total value of $211,621.81. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now 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. Corporate insiders own 9.74% of the company’s stock.

Raymond James Company Profile

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.