Joel Adams & Associates Inc. Makes New Investment in Raymond James (NYSE:RJF)

Joel Adams & Associates Inc. acquired a new position in Raymond James (NYSE:RJF) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor acquired 2,431 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $378,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vontobel Holding Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Raymond James by 5.9% during the 3rd quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 2,440 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $299,000 after buying an additional 137 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its position in shares of Raymond James by 33.7% during the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 4,694 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $580,000 after buying an additional 1,184 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its position in shares of Raymond James by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 123,098 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $15,075,000 after buying an additional 493 shares during the period. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Raymond James by 2.7% during the 3rd quarter. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,051 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $496,000 after buying an additional 105 shares during the period. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Raymond James by 44,291.7% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 10,654 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,305,000 after buying an additional 10,630 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 83.83% of the company’s stock.

Raymond James Stock Up 0.6 %

NYSE RJF opened at $160.80 on Wednesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $161.63 and a 200-day moving average of $144.56. The stock has a market capitalization of $32.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.93 and a beta of 1.03. Raymond James has a 52 week low of $104.24 and a 52 week high of $174.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.03.

Raymond James (NYSE:RJF) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $2.93 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.62 by $0.31. Raymond James had a return on equity of 19.71% and a net margin of 14.06%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Raymond James will post 11.12 EPS for the current year.

Raymond James Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 16th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 2nd were paid a $0.50 dividend. This is a boost from Raymond James’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.24%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, January 2nd. Raymond James’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 19.51%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Paul C. Reilly sold 50,000 shares of Raymond James stock in a transaction on Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $167.30, for a total transaction of $8,365,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 283,110 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $47,364,303. The trade was a 15.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Tashtego S. Elwyn sold 10,000 shares of Raymond James stock in a transaction on Friday, December 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $159.47, for a total value of $1,594,700.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 32,688 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,212,755.36. This trade represents a 23.43 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 64,621 shares of company stock valued at $10,729,488. Company insiders own 0.54% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

RJF has been the subject of several analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Raymond James from $168.00 to $176.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. JMP Securities raised their price target on Raymond James from $175.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. StockNews.com cut Raymond James from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on Raymond James from $170.00 to $177.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised Raymond James from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the company from $161.00 to $185.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $166.09.

Raymond James Company Profile

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.