Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Sells 4,670 Shares of Raymond James (NYSE:RJF)

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund lowered its stake in shares of Raymond James (NYSE:RJF) by 4.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 93,959 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 4,670 shares during the quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund’s holdings in Raymond James were worth $14,595,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 9,217 shares during the period. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise acquired a new stake in shares of Raymond James during the third quarter worth $3,561,000. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. boosted its holdings in 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 buying an additional 7,028 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. increased its stake in shares of Raymond James by 7,238.7% in the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 45,353 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $7,045,000 after acquiring an additional 44,735 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Longboard Asset Management LP bought a new stake in Raymond James in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $245,000. 83.83% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently issued reports on RJF. UBS Group upgraded Raymond James from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Raymond James from $168.00 to $176.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Raymond James from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $161.00 to $185.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. StockNews.com downgraded Raymond James from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Raymond James from $166.00 to $172.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $166.09.

Insider Activity at Raymond James

In other news, CEO Paul C. Reilly sold 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $167.30, for a total transaction of $8,365,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 283,110 shares in the company, valued at approximately $47,364,303. This represents a 15.01 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Tashtego S. Elwyn sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, December 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $159.47, for a total transaction of $1,594,700.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 32,688 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,212,755.36. This represents a 23.43 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 64,621 shares of company stock worth $10,729,488. 0.54% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Raymond James Trading Up 0.0 %

RJF opened at $151.61 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $161.13 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $145.88. The company has a market cap of $31.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 1.03. Raymond James has a 1-year low of $104.24 and a 1-year high of $174.32.

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

Raymond James Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 1st will be paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.32%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 1st. Raymond James’s payout ratio is 19.51%.

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.