The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Buys Shares of 88,193 Raymond James Financial, Inc. $RJF

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company bought a new stake in Raymond James Financial, Inc. (NYSE:RJF) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 88,193 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $13,408,000.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in Raymond James Financial during the second quarter valued at approximately $2,180,699,000. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Raymond James Financial during the 4th quarter worth $324,263,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new stake in shares of Raymond James Financial during the 2nd quarter worth $182,254,000. Deutsche Bank AG bought a new stake in shares of Raymond James Financial during the 2nd quarter worth $87,725,000. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP boosted its stake in Raymond James Financial by 18.3% in the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 3,071,996 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $493,332,000 after buying an additional 474,477 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.83% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Raymond James Financial news, insider Steven M. Raney sold 5,770 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $172.97, for a total value of $998,036.90. Following the sale, the insider owned 43,046 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,445,666.62. The trade was a 11.82% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Tashtego S. Elwyn sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $176.06, for a total value of $1,760,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 45,114 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,942,770.84. The trade was a 18.14% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Corporate insiders own 0.58% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have commented on RJF shares. BMO Capital Markets reissued a “market perform” rating and set a $175.00 target price (up from $160.00) on shares of Raymond James Financial in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Citizens Jmp lifted their price target on shares of Raymond James Financial from $200.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. UBS Group set a $184.00 price objective on shares of Raymond James Financial and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, July 27th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Raymond James Financial in a research note on Monday, August 17th. Finally, TD Cowen decreased their target price on shares of Raymond James Financial from $162.00 to $161.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Raymond James Financial has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $181.00.

Raymond James Financial Stock Up 1.9%

Shares of NYSE RJF opened at $179.50 on Friday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $170.25 and a 200 day simple moving average of $158.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 1.06 and a quick ratio of 1.03. Raymond James Financial, Inc. has a 1 year low of $138.82 and a 1 year high of $182.73. The firm has a market cap of $34.53 billion, a PE ratio of 15.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.08 and a beta of 0.92.

Raymond James Financial (NYSE:RJF) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The financial services provider reported $3.14 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.91 by $0.23. Raymond James Financial had a net margin of 13.57% and a return on equity of 19.07%. The firm had revenue of $3.93 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.87 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.18 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that Raymond James Financial, Inc. will post 12.07 EPS for the current year.

Raymond James Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 1st will be paid a $0.54 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 1st. This represents a $2.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.2%. Raymond James Financial’s payout ratio is currently 18.83%.

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.