New Mexico Educational Retirement Board Sells 200 Shares of Raymond James (NYSE:RJF)

New Mexico Educational Retirement Board decreased its stake in shares of Raymond James (NYSE:RJF) by 2.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 8,875 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 200 shares during the quarter. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board’s holdings in Raymond James were worth $1,379,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position 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 worth $73,940,000 after acquiring an additional 9,217 shares during the last quarter. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise bought a new position in shares of Raymond James during the third quarter worth $3,561,000. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Raymond James by 1.5% during the third quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 473,140 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $57,941,000 after acquiring an additional 7,028 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its position in shares of Raymond James by 7,238.7% during the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 45,353 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $7,045,000 after acquiring an additional 44,735 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Longboard Asset Management LP bought a new position in shares of Raymond James during the fourth quarter worth $245,000. Institutional investors own 83.83% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Tashtego S. Elwyn sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 13th. The shares were 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 owns 32,688 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,212,755.36. The trade was a 23.43 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Bella Loykhter Allaire sold 3,451 shares of Raymond James stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.62, for a total transaction of $571,554.62. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 80,421 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,319,326.02. This trade represents a 4.11 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 64,621 shares of company stock valued at $10,729,488. 0.54% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Raymond James Price Performance

NYSE:RJF opened at $159.63 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 1.00. The firm has a market cap of $32.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $161.67 and a 200-day moving average price of $143.86. Raymond James has a 1-year low of $104.24 and a 1-year high of $174.32.

Raymond James (NYSE:RJF) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $2.93 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.62 by $0.31. Raymond James had a net margin of 14.06% and a return on equity of 19.99%. Equities research analysts forecast that Raymond James will post 11.12 EPS for the current year.

Raymond James Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 16th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 2nd were issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.25%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, January 2nd. This is a positive change from Raymond James’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. Raymond James’s payout ratio is presently 19.51%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently issued reports on RJF. UBS Group raised shares of Raymond James from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Raymond James from $168.00 to $176.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Raymond James from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped 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. Finally, Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Raymond James from $145.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average 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.