Mizuho Bank Ltd. Invests $53,000 in Raymond James (NYSE:RJF)

Mizuho Bank Ltd. bought a new stake in Raymond James (NYSE:RJF) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 340 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $53,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of RJF. Cullen Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Raymond James by 19.1% in the fourth quarter. Cullen Capital Management LLC now owns 12,047 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,871,000 after acquiring an additional 1,936 shares during the period. Oarsman Capital Inc. grew its position in Raymond James by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. Oarsman Capital Inc. now owns 10,654 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,655,000 after purchasing an additional 323 shares during the period. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Raymond James during the 4th quarter valued at about $9,292,000. Prudential PLC lifted its holdings in shares of Raymond James by 384.9% in the 4th quarter. Prudential PLC now owns 30,302 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,707,000 after buying an additional 24,053 shares during the period. Finally, Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. boosted its stake in shares of Raymond James by 187.5% in the fourth quarter. Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. now owns 13,243 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,057,000 after buying an additional 8,636 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.83% of the company’s stock.

Raymond James Trading Down 5.2 %

Shares of Raymond James stock opened at $123.51 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 1.01. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $151.43 and its 200-day simple moving average is $150.78. The stock has a market cap of $25.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.05, a P/E/G ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 0.94. Raymond James has a 1-year low of $104.24 and a 1-year high of $174.32.

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

Raymond James Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 1st will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.62%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 1st. Raymond James’s payout ratio is currently 19.51%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have commented on RJF. StockNews.com lowered Raymond James from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. JMP Securities upped their price target on Raymond James from $175.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on Raymond James from $198.00 to $173.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. UBS Group raised Raymond James from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on shares of Raymond James from $170.00 to $177.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. 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 company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $164.64.

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.