Fifth Third Bancorp Purchases 30,395 Shares of Raymond James Financial, Inc. $RJF

Key Points

• Fifth Third Bancorp increased its stake in Raymond James Financial by 114.4% in the first quarter, buying 30,395 additional shares and bringing its total holding to 56,970 shares worth about $8.25 million.
• Other institutional investors also added to or initiated positions, and institutions now own 83.83% of Raymond James Financial’s stock.
• Analysts remain mixed but slightly constructive: several firms raised price targets, while the consensus rating is Hold with an average target price of $176.64, above the stock’s recent $170.26 price.

Fifth Third Bancorp boosted its position in shares of Raymond James Financial, Inc. (NYSE:RJF - Free Report) by 114.4% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 56,970 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 30,395 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp's holdings in Raymond James Financial were worth $8,249,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Empowered Funds LLC increased its holdings in shares of Raymond James Financial by 8.2% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 4,142 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $573,000 after purchasing an additional 314 shares during the period. Woodline Partners LP boosted its stake in Raymond James Financial by 41.8% during the first quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 15,580 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,164,000 after buying an additional 4,592 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in Raymond James Financial by 137.3% during the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,184 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $182,000 after buying an additional 685 shares in the last quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. increased its stake in Raymond James Financial by 15.1% in the 2nd quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 2,268 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $348,000 after acquiring an additional 298 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cresset Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Raymond James Financial in the 2nd quarter worth about $363,000. Institutional investors own 83.83% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. Barclays boosted their price objective on Raymond James Financial from $182.00 to $192.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Citizens Jmp lifted their target price on shares of Raymond James Financial from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a "market outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. UBS Group reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $175.00 price target (up from $166.00) on shares of Raymond James Financial in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. Weiss Ratings reissued a "buy (b-)" rating on shares of Raymond James Financial in a report on Wednesday, May 20th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price objective 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 MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $176.64.

Raymond James Financial Stock Up 1.7%

Shares of NYSE RJF opened at $170.26 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $33.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.09, a PEG ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 0.93. Raymond James Financial, Inc. has a one year low of $138.82 and a one year high of $177.66. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $154.95 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $156.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 1.07 and a quick ratio of 1.05.

Raymond James Financial (NYSE:RJF - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 22nd. The financial services provider reported $2.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $3.86 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.92 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.42 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 13.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Raymond James Financial, Inc. will post 11.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Raymond James Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 1st were paid a dividend of $0.54 per share. This represents a $2.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, July 1st. Raymond James Financial's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 20.42%.

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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