Allstate Corp Makes New Investment in Raymond James Financial, Inc. $RJF

Allstate Corp bought a new stake in Raymond James Financial, Inc. (NYSE:RJF) during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 6,609 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,141,000.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

RJF has been the subject of several research reports. Morgan Stanley restated a “positive” rating on shares of Raymond James Financial in a research note on Monday, December 22nd. Citigroup reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Raymond James Financial in a report on Thursday, October 9th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Raymond James Financial from $180.00 to $182.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 23rd. JMP Securities increased their price target on Raymond James Financial from $185.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 23rd. Finally, Bank of America lifted their price objective on Raymond James Financial from $194.00 to $196.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 10th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $181.36.

Raymond James Financial Price Performance

NYSE:RJF opened at $170.03 on Thursday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $162.78 and a two-hundred day moving average of $164.22. Raymond James Financial, Inc. has a 12 month low of $117.57 and a 12 month high of $177.66. The firm has a market cap of $33.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.08 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a current ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44.

Raymond James Financial (NYSE:RJF) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 22nd. The financial services provider reported $3.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.83 by $0.28. Raymond James Financial had a return on equity of 18.19% and a net margin of 13.42%.The firm had revenue of $3.73 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.64 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.95 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 7.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Raymond James Financial, Inc. will post 11.17 earnings per share 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. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 2nd were issued a dividend of $0.54 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 2nd. This is a positive change from Raymond James Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.3%. Raymond James Financial’s payout ratio is currently 20.99%.

Insider Activity at Raymond James Financial

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 company insiders.

Raymond James Financial Profile

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.