Raymond James (NYSE:RJF) Cut to Neutral at Bank of America

Bank of America downgraded shares of Raymond James (NYSE:RJF) from a buy rating to a neutral rating in a research report report published on Wednesday morning, Marketbeat.com reports. They currently have $159.00 target price on the financial services provider’s stock.

Other equities analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Raymond James from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Raymond James from $149.00 to $161.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price target on Raymond James from $198.00 to $173.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and set a $175.00 price objective on shares of Raymond James in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on shares of Raymond James from $170.00 to $177.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Raymond James presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $153.82.

Raymond James Trading Up 3.0 %

Shares of RJF stock opened at $141.79 on Wednesday. Raymond James has a twelve month low of $104.24 and a twelve month high of $174.32. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $138.90 and its 200 day simple moving average is $151.98. The company has a quick ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. The firm has a market capitalization of $29.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.83, a P/E/G ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 0.94.

Raymond James (NYSE:RJF) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.42 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.44 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $3.40 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.46 billion. Raymond James had a return on equity of 19.71% and a net margin of 14.06%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.31 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Raymond James will post 11.17 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Raymond James Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 1st were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.41%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, April 1st. Raymond James’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 19.25%.

Insider Activity

In other Raymond James news, insider James E. Bunn sold 3,650 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $136.49, for a total value of $498,188.50. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 78,227 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,677,203.23. This trade represents a 4.46 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.54% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Raymond James

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in Raymond James by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,522,025 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,013,066,000 after acquiring an additional 137,277 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in shares of 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 worth $556,533,000 after purchasing an additional 488,245 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Raymond James by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,392,260 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $680,378,000 after purchasing an additional 40,576 shares in the last quarter. Earnest Partners LLC grew its position in Raymond James by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 2,533,666 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $393,554,000 after purchasing an additional 24,195 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in Raymond James by 8.6% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,435,306 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $378,276,000 after buying an additional 192,904 shares during the last quarter. 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.