Confluence Wealth Services Inc. Buys 2,435 Shares of Raymond James (NYSE:RJF)

Confluence Wealth Services Inc. boosted its stake in Raymond James (NYSE:RJF) by 120.4% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 4,458 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,435 shares during the quarter. Confluence Wealth Services Inc.’s holdings in Raymond James were worth $765,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in shares of Raymond James by 31.4% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 12,114,502 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,483,542,000 after buying an additional 2,898,242 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its position in Raymond James by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,974,740 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $976,587,000 after acquiring an additional 54,265 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in Raymond James by 12.0% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,544,610 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $556,533,000 after purchasing an additional 488,245 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Raymond James by 0.3% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,351,684 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $531,013,000 after purchasing an additional 12,869 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Raymond James by 0.7% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,064,349 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $130,340,000 after purchasing an additional 7,121 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.83% of the company’s stock.

Raymond James Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of Raymond James stock opened at $165.67 on Thursday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $162.16 and its 200 day moving average is $141.27. Raymond James has a one year low of $104.24 and a one year high of $174.32. The firm has a market cap of $33.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.16, a PEG ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 1.00.

Raymond James (NYSE:RJF) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $2.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.62 by $0.31. Raymond James had a return on equity of 19.99% and a net margin of 14.06%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Raymond James will post 11.16 EPS for the current year.

Raymond James Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 16th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 2nd were paid a $0.50 dividend. This is an increase from Raymond James’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.21%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, January 2nd. Raymond James’s payout ratio is 19.51%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Raymond James

In related news, insider Tashtego S. Elwyn sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 32,688 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,212,755.36. The trade was a 23.43 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Paul C. Reilly sold 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $167.30, for a total value of $8,365,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 283,110 shares in the company, valued at approximately $47,364,303. The trade was a 15.01 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 64,621 shares of company stock valued at $10,729,488. Corporate insiders own 0.54% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

RJF has been the subject of several recent research reports. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Raymond James from $132.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th. JMP Securities raised their price target on shares of Raymond James from $175.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Raymond James from $166.00 to $172.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded Raymond James from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $161.00 to $185.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, TD Cowen lifted their target price on Raymond James from $128.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Raymond James has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $166.09.

About Raymond James

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.