Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Buys Shares of 8,900 Raymond James Financial, Inc. $RJF

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System purchased a new stake in shares of Raymond James Financial, Inc. (NYSE:RJF) during the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund purchased 8,900 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,289,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in RJF. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC lifted its holdings in Raymond James Financial by 13.2% during the first quarter. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC now owns 2,887 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $418,000 after purchasing an additional 336 shares during the last quarter. William B. Walkup & Associates Inc. increased its stake in shares of Raymond James Financial by 2.2% in the first quarter. William B. Walkup & Associates Inc. now owns 13,335 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,852,000 after purchasing an additional 289 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. increased its stake in shares of Raymond James Financial by 3.2% in the first quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 5,300 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $767,000 after purchasing an additional 163 shares in the last quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Raymond James Financial by 11.2% in the first quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,588 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $520,000 after purchasing an additional 361 shares during the period. Finally, OP Asset Management Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Raymond James Financial in the first quarter valued at approximately $4,738,000. Institutional investors own 83.83% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently commented on RJF shares. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of Raymond James Financial from $152.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $166.00 target price (up from $158.00) on shares of Raymond James Financial in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their target price on Raymond James Financial from $165.00 to $145.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 6th. TD Cowen cut their price target on Raymond James Financial from $159.00 to $155.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 28th. Finally, Barclays reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $182.00 price target (up from $174.00) on shares of Raymond James Financial in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $172.92.

Raymond James Financial Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:RJF opened at $162.57 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $153.14 and a 200 day moving average of $156.13. The stock has a market cap of $31.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.37, a P/E/G ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 0.93. Raymond James Financial, Inc. has a 12 month low of $138.82 and a 12 month high of $177.66. The company has a current ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44.

Raymond James Financial (NYSE:RJF) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The financial services provider reported $2.83 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.76 by $0.07. Raymond James Financial had a net margin of 13.04% and a return on equity of 17.93%. The business had revenue of $3.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.92 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.42 EPS. Raymond James Financial’s revenue was up 13.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Raymond James Financial, Inc. will post 11.82 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Raymond James Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 1st will be issued a $0.54 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 1st. This represents a $2.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.3%. Raymond James Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 20.42%.

Raymond James Financial Company 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.