Stevens Capital Management LP Purchases Shares of 1,775 Raymond James (NYSE:RJF)

Stevens Capital Management LP purchased a new position in Raymond James (NYSE:RJF) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 1,775 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $276,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of RJF. Assetmark Inc. grew its stake in shares of Raymond James by 43.8% in the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 453 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $70,000 after purchasing an additional 138 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Raymond James in the 4th quarter worth approximately $105,701,000. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in shares of Raymond James by 1.6% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 568,070 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $73,940,000 after buying an additional 9,217 shares during the period. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Raymond James during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $511,000. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Raymond James in the fourth quarter worth $21,334,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.83% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have issued reports on RJF. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of Raymond James from $170.00 to $177.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. UBS Group upgraded shares of Raymond James from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Raymond James from $149.00 to $161.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. JMP Securities lifted their price objective on Raymond James from $175.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Bank of America increased their target price on Raymond James from $198.00 to $201.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $167.55.

Raymond James Stock Up 2.8 %

Raymond James stock opened at $145.03 on Tuesday. Raymond James has a 12 month low of $104.24 and a 12 month high of $174.32. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $156.57 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $149.91. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. The firm has a market cap of $29.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.15, a PEG ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 1.04.

Raymond James (NYSE:RJF) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $2.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.62 by $0.31. Raymond James had a net margin of 14.06% and a return on equity of 19.71%. Equities analysts predict that Raymond James will post 11.17 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Raymond James Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 1st will be given a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 1st. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.38%. Raymond James’s payout ratio is 19.51%.

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.