Raymond James (NYSE:RJF) Stock Rating Upgraded by The Goldman Sachs Group

Raymond James (NYSE:RJF) was upgraded by equities researchers at The Goldman Sachs Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a note issued to investors on Monday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The brokerage presently has a $185.00 target price on the financial services provider’s stock, up from their previous target price of $161.00. The Goldman Sachs Group’s price objective indicates a potential upside of 16.48% from the stock’s current price.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on Raymond James from $123.00 to $126.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, October 4th. TD Cowen lifted their price target on shares of Raymond James from $128.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Raymond James from $136.00 to $152.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. JMP Securities boosted their target price on Raymond James from $146.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company restated an “equal weight” rating and set a $169.00 price target (up from $152.00) on shares of Raymond James in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $152.73.

Raymond James Price Performance

Raymond James stock opened at $158.83 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $159.40 and a 200 day moving average price of $134.56. Raymond James has a 12-month low of $104.24 and a 12-month high of $171.38. The stock has a market cap of $32.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.36, a PEG ratio of 0.91 and a beta of 1.02.

Raymond James (NYSE:RJF) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.95 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.41 by $0.54. The firm had revenue of $3.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.32 billion. Raymond James had a net margin of 13.86% and a return on equity of 19.30%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.13 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Raymond James will post 10.85 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other Raymond James news, CEO Paul C. Reilly sold 50,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $167.30, for a total transaction of $8,365,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 283,110 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $47,364,303. This trade represents a 15.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Bella Loykhter Allaire sold 1,170 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $169.43, for a total transaction of $198,233.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 80,421 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,625,730.03. The trade was a 1.43 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 64,621 shares of company stock worth $10,729,488. 9.74% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Raymond James

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of RJF. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in shares of Raymond James by 31.4% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 12,114,502 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,483,542,000 after purchasing an additional 2,898,242 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its stake in Raymond James by 0.7% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,974,740 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $976,587,000 after buying an additional 54,265 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Raymond James by 12.0% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,544,610 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $556,533,000 after acquiring an additional 488,245 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Raymond James by 0.3% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,351,684 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $531,013,000 after acquiring an additional 12,869 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AGF Management Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Raymond James by 17.2% in the 2nd quarter. AGF Management Ltd. now owns 2,580,467 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $318,972,000 after acquiring an additional 378,033 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.83% of the company’s stock.

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.