Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Increases Stake in Raymond James Financial, Inc. $RJF

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans boosted its stake in shares of Raymond James Financial, Inc. (NYSE:RJF) by 30.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 60,372 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 14,233 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans’ holdings in Raymond James Financial were worth $10,390,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Raymond James Financial by 28.6% during the third quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 31,295 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,402,000 after buying an additional 6,953 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its stake in Raymond James Financial by 14.1% in the 3rd quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 51,601 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $8,547,000 after acquiring an additional 6,379 shares during the last quarter. National Pension Service lifted its position in Raymond James Financial by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. National Pension Service now owns 280,805 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $48,467,000 after acquiring an additional 4,488 shares during the period. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Raymond James Financial during the 3rd quarter valued at about $622,000. Finally, DAVENPORT & Co LLC grew its stake in Raymond James Financial by 42.0% during the 2nd quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 31,960 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,902,000 after purchasing an additional 9,455 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.83% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on RJF shares. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Raymond James Financial from $180.00 to $182.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 23rd. UBS Group set a $176.00 price target on shares of Raymond James Financial and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Raymond James Financial from $178.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 23rd. Morgan Stanley reiterated a “positive” rating on shares of Raymond James Financial in a research note on Monday, December 22nd. Finally, JMP Securities boosted their target price on shares of Raymond James Financial from $185.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 23rd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $182.17.

Raymond James Financial Stock Performance

NYSE RJF opened at $169.82 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $33.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.62, a PEG ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.00. Raymond James Financial, Inc. has a twelve month low of $117.57 and a twelve month high of $177.66. The company has a current ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $165.35 and a 200 day moving average of $164.92.

Raymond James Financial (NYSE:RJF) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 28th. The financial services provider reported $2.86 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.83 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $3.74 billion for 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.93 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Raymond James Financial, Inc. will post 11.17 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Raymond James Financial Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 16th. Investors of record on Friday, January 2nd were paid a $0.54 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 2nd. This represents a $2.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.3%. This is an increase from Raymond James Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Raymond James Financial’s dividend payout ratio is 21.14%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Raymond James Financial news, insider Paul C. Reilly sold 130,687 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $163.15, for a total transaction of $21,321,584.05. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 260,546 shares in the company, valued at approximately $42,508,079.90. This represents a 33.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.58% of the company’s stock.

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.