Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA Lowers Stock Position in Raymond James Financial, Inc. $RJF

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA cut its holdings in shares of Raymond James Financial, Inc. (NYSE:RJF) by 16.6% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,007,355 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 399,394 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA’s holdings in Raymond James Financial were worth $346,469,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Primecap Management Co. CA lifted its holdings in Raymond James Financial by 3.0% during the second quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 10,013,852 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,535,824,000 after buying an additional 295,163 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in shares of Raymond James Financial by 41.6% in the 2nd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 5,616,998 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $861,479,000 after acquiring an additional 1,651,380 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Raymond James Financial by 39.9% in the 2nd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 2,485,569 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $381,212,000 after acquiring an additional 709,315 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Raymond James Financial during the 2nd quarter worth $354,446,000. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC boosted its position in Raymond James Financial by 5.5% during the second quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 971,352 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $148,926,000 after purchasing an additional 50,645 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.83% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have commented on RJF. Citigroup reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Raymond James Financial in a research report on Thursday, October 9th. UBS Group set a $176.00 price objective on shares of Raymond James Financial and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 11th. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of Raymond James Financial from $194.00 to $196.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on shares of Raymond James Financial from $174.00 to $181.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 23rd. Finally, JMP Securities upped their price target on Raymond James Financial from $185.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 23rd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $181.36.

Insider Transactions at Raymond James Financial

In other Raymond James Financial news, insider Paul C. Reilly sold 130,687 shares of Raymond James Financial stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $163.15, for a total transaction of $21,321,584.05. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 260,546 shares in the company, valued at approximately $42,508,079.90. The trade was a 33.40% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.58% of the company’s stock.

Raymond James Financial Price Performance

NYSE RJF opened at $172.11 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $33.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.73, a PEG ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 1.07 and a quick ratio of 1.04. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $162.41 and its 200 day moving average price is $164.03. Raymond James Financial, Inc. has a 1 year low of $117.57 and a 1 year high of $177.66.

Raymond James Financial (NYSE:RJF) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 22nd. The financial services provider reported $3.11 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.83 by $0.28. The company had revenue of $3.73 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.64 billion. Raymond James Financial had a return on equity of 18.19% and a net margin of 13.42%.The firm’s revenue was up 7.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.95 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Raymond James Financial, Inc. will post 11.17 earnings per share for the current year.

Raymond James Financial Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 2nd were given a dividend of $0.54 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 2nd. This represents a $2.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.3%. This is a boost from Raymond James Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Raymond James Financial’s payout ratio is 20.99%.

Raymond James Financial Profile

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.