First Trust Advisors LP Sells 612,508 Shares of Raymond James Financial, Inc. $RJF

First Trust Advisors LP decreased its holdings in shares of Raymond James Financial, Inc. (NYSE:RJF) by 19.9% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 2,459,488 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 612,508 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP’s holdings in Raymond James Financial were worth $356,109,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Raymond James Financial by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,785,857 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $447,381,000 after purchasing an additional 21,856 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in Raymond James Financial by 1.8% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,399,638 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $347,390,000 after buying an additional 41,413 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in Raymond James Financial by 12.2% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,338,521 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $375,543,000 after buying an additional 254,773 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Raymond James Financial in the fourth quarter worth about $324,263,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position in shares of Raymond James Financial by 3.2% in the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,240,769 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $179,651,000 after buying an additional 39,030 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.83% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently commented on RJF shares. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on Raymond James Financial from $152.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. Citigroup restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Raymond James Financial in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Citizens Jmp upped their target price on Raymond James Financial from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Raymond James Financial in a report on Wednesday, May 20th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Raymond James Financial from $172.00 to $174.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $176.64.

Raymond James Financial Trading Down 0.2%

Shares of NYSE:RJF opened at $168.03 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.07. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $156.19 and its 200-day moving average is $156.45. The company has a market cap of $32.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.88, a P/E/G ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 0.93. Raymond James Financial, Inc. has a 52-week low of $138.82 and a 52-week high of $177.66.

Raymond James Financial (NYSE:RJF) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 22nd. The financial services provider reported $2.83 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.76 by $0.07. Raymond James Financial had a return on equity of 17.93% and a net margin of 13.04%.The business had revenue of $3.86 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.92 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.42 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 13.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Raymond James Financial, Inc. will post 11.84 earnings per share for the current year.

Raymond James Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 1st were issued a dividend of $0.54 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, July 1st. This represents a $2.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.3%. Raymond James Financial’s payout ratio is 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.