Avanza Fonder AB Takes Position in Raymond James Financial, Inc. $RJF

Avanza Fonder AB bought a new position in shares of Raymond James Financial, Inc. (NYSE:RJF) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 4,690 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $753,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in Raymond James Financial by 4.1% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 5,847,869 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,009,342,000 after purchasing an additional 230,871 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of Raymond James Financial by 4.5% during the third quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 2,597,519 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $448,332,000 after acquiring an additional 111,950 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of Raymond James Financial by 10.7% during the third quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,357,328 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $406,941,000 after acquiring an additional 227,337 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Raymond James Financial in the second quarter valued at approximately $354,446,000. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC lifted its position in shares of Raymond James Financial by 5.5% in the second quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 971,352 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $148,926,000 after acquiring an additional 50,645 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.83% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Bella Loykhter Allaire sold 29,551 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 19th. The shares were 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. This represents a 35.54% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.58% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

RJF has been the subject of several research reports. UBS Group set a $176.00 price target on Raymond James Financial and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 11th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Raymond James Financial from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Friday, February 20th. Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of Raymond James Financial from $194.00 to $196.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 10th. Barclays assumed coverage on shares of Raymond James Financial in a research report on Wednesday, January 28th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $191.00 target price for the company. Finally, TD Cowen reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Raymond James Financial in a research note on Wednesday, January 14th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $182.17.

Raymond James Financial Stock Performance

NYSE RJF opened at $145.78 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a current ratio of 1.06. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $158.49 and its two-hundred day moving average is $162.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $28.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.08 and a beta of 1.00. Raymond James Financial, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $117.57 and a fifty-two week high of $177.66.

Raymond James Financial (NYSE:RJF) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The financial services provider reported $2.86 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.83 by $0.03. Raymond James Financial had a return on equity of 17.65% and a net margin of 13.07%.The business had revenue of $3.74 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.83 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.93 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that Raymond James Financial, Inc. will post 11.17 earnings per share for the current year.

Raymond James Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 1st will be issued a $0.54 dividend. This represents a $2.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.5%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 1st. Raymond James Financial’s 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.