Fiera Capital Corp Increases Stake in Raymond James Financial, Inc. $RJF

Key Points

• Fiera Capital Corp increased its stake in Raymond James Financial by 16.6% in the fourth quarter, ending with 56,312 shares valued at about $9.0 million.
• Institutional ownership remains high, with hedge funds and other institutions holding 83.83% of RJF shares. Several large investors, including JPMorgan Chase and First Trust Advisors, also added to their positions.
• Raymond James reported Q2 earnings of $2.83 per share, beating estimates, and declared a quarterly dividend of $0.54 per share to be paid July 15, implying a 1.4% yield.

Fiera Capital Corp raised its holdings in shares of Raymond James Financial, Inc. (NYSE:RJF - Free Report) by 16.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 56,312 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 8,025 shares during the period. Fiera Capital Corp's holdings in Raymond James Financial were worth $9,043,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in Raymond James Financial by 4.1% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 5,847,869 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,009,342,000 after buying an additional 230,871 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP increased its holdings in Raymond James Financial by 4.5% during the third quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 2,597,519 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $448,332,000 after buying an additional 111,950 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in Raymond James Financial by 10.7% during the third quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,357,328 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $406,941,000 after buying an additional 227,337 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Raymond James Financial during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $324,263,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings in Raymond James Financial by 22.0% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,201,739 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $192,987,000 after buying an additional 216,907 shares during the last quarter. 83.83% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Raymond James Financial news, insider Bella Loykhter Allaire sold 29,551 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $142.34, for a total transaction of $4,206,289.34. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 53,586 shares in the company, valued at $7,627,431.24. This trade represents a 35.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.58% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Raymond James Financial Stock Performance

RJF opened at $150.19 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $29.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.20, a PEG ratio of 1.16 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a fifty day moving average of $150.32 and a 200 day moving average of $156.61. Raymond James Financial, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $138.82 and a fifty-two week high of $177.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.07.

Raymond James Financial (NYSE:RJF - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The financial services provider reported $2.83 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.76 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $3.86 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.92 billion. Raymond James Financial had a net margin of 13.04% and a return on equity of 17.93%. Raymond James Financial's quarterly revenue was up 13.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.42 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Raymond James Financial, Inc. will post 11.82 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Raymond James Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 1st will be given a dividend of $0.54 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 1st. This represents a $2.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.4%. Raymond James Financial's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 20.42%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have commented on RJF shares. UBS Group reaffirmed 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. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Raymond James Financial from $171.00 to $172.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 28th. Weiss Ratings reissued a "buy (b-)" rating on shares of Raymond James Financial in a research note on Wednesday, May 20th. Barclays reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $182.00 price objective (up from $174.00) on shares of Raymond James Financial in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of Raymond James Financial from $152.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $172.92.

Raymond James Financial 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.

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