Plato Investment Management Ltd Increases Stake in Raymond James Financial, Inc. $RJF

Plato Investment Management Ltd boosted its stake in shares of Raymond James Financial, Inc. (NYSE:RJF) by 2,000.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund 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 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Raymond James Financial in the second quarter worth about $354,446,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in Raymond James Financial by 41.6% in the 2nd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 5,616,998 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $861,479,000 after buying an additional 1,651,380 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP increased its holdings in Raymond James Financial by 39.9% in the 2nd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 2,485,569 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $381,212,000 after buying an additional 709,315 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its stake in Raymond James Financial by 179.8% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 688,405 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $105,581,000 after acquiring an additional 442,340 shares during the period. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP lifted its stake in Raymond James Financial by 824.7% during the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 438,213 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $67,209,000 after acquiring an additional 390,821 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.83% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Paul C. Reilly sold 130,687 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $163.15, for a total value of $21,321,584.05. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 260,546 shares in the company, valued at $42,508,079.90. This represents a 33.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.58% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

RJF has been the topic of a number of research reports. TD Cowen reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Raymond James Financial in a research note on Wednesday, January 14th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on Raymond James Financial from $174.00 to $181.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 23rd. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Raymond James Financial in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Bank of America upped their target price on Raymond James Financial from $194.00 to $196.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 10th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reiterated a “positive” rating on shares of Raymond James Financial in a research report on Monday, December 22nd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $182.17.

Raymond James Financial Stock Up 2.9%

Shares of NYSE RJF opened at $172.34 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $34.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.00. 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 quick ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44. Raymond James Financial, Inc. has a 52-week low of $117.57 and a 52-week high of $177.66.

Raymond James Financial (NYSE:RJF) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 28th. The financial services provider reported $2.86 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.83 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $3.74 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.83 billion. Raymond James Financial had a return on equity of 17.74% and a net margin of 13.07%.Raymond James Financial’s quarterly revenue was up 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.93 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Raymond James Financial, Inc. will post 11.17 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Raymond James Financial Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 2nd were paid a dividend of $0.54 per share. This is a boost from Raymond James Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 2nd. This represents a $2.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.3%. Raymond James Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.