Congress Asset Management Co. Lowers Position in Raymond James Financial, Inc. $RJF

Key Points

• Congress Asset Management Co. reduced its stake in Raymond James Financial by 13.1%, owning approximately 0.37% of the company worth $113.64 million after selling 112,049 shares.
• Analysts have raised their price targets for Raymond James Financial, with Morgan Stanley increasing it from $136 to $180 and a consensus target price of $165.30 now in place.
• Raymond James Financial recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.50 per share, with an annualized yield of 1.2%, payable on October 15th.

Congress Asset Management Co. cut its holdings in Raymond James Financial, Inc. (NYSE:RJF - Free Report) by 13.1% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 740,953 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 112,049 shares during the quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. owned approximately 0.37% of Raymond James Financial worth $113,640,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Raymond James Financial by 1.6% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 22,244,204 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $3,089,942,000 after acquiring an additional 347,916 shares during the period. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Raymond James Financial by 0.7% in the 1st quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,136,413 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $574,590,000 after buying an additional 29,086 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Raymond James Financial by 19.1% in the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,901,435 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $403,038,000 after buying an additional 466,129 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its holdings in shares of Raymond James Financial by 8.3% in the 1st quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,335,254 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $324,390,000 after buying an additional 178,262 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Raymond James Financial by 6.7% in the 1st quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,247,922 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $312,259,000 after buying an additional 140,704 shares in the last quarter. 83.83% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

RJF has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Raymond James Financial from $136.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Raymond James Financial from $151.00 to $172.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Citigroup reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $180.00 price objective (up from $170.00) on shares of Raymond James Financial in a research report on Monday. JMP Securities raised their price target on shares of Raymond James Financial from $175.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a "market outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Raymond James Financial from $155.00 to $163.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, July 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $165.30.

Raymond James Financial Stock Performance

Shares of RJF stock opened at $172.11 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The stock has a market cap of $34.32 billion, a PE ratio of 16.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.04. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $167.10 and a 200-day simple moving average of $152.51. Raymond James Financial, Inc. has a 52-week low of $117.57 and a 52-week high of $177.66.

Raymond James Financial (NYSE:RJF - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.18 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.36 by ($0.18). The firm had revenue of $3.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.38 billion. Raymond James Financial had a net margin of 13.56% and a return on equity of 18.38%. Raymond James Financial's revenue for the quarter was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.39 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Raymond James Financial, Inc. will post 11.17 EPS for the current year.

Raymond James Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, October 1st will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, October 1st. Raymond James Financial's payout ratio is 19.61%.

About Raymond James Financial

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.

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