Goldman Sachs Group Inc. Boosts Holdings in Raymond James Financial, Inc. $RJF

Key Points

• Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its stake in Raymond James Financial by 44.4% in Q1, owning 1,708,333 shares valued at $237.3 million.
• Multiple hedge funds, including Vanguard Group and T. Rowe Price, have also increased their positions in Raymond James Financial, with institutional investors representing 83.83% of the company's stock ownership.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.50, payable on October 15th, with an annualized yield of 1.2% and a payout ratio of 19.61%.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Raymond James Financial, Inc. (NYSE:RJF - Free Report) by 44.4% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,708,333 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 525,134 shares during the quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. owned approximately 0.85% of Raymond James Financial worth $237,305,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of RJF. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Raymond James Financial by 1,502.0% in the first quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,883,139 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $261,587,000 after purchasing an additional 1,765,588 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in shares of Raymond James Financial during the first quarter worth $111,368,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in shares of Raymond James Financial by 25,259.8% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 674,825 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $93,740,000 after acquiring an additional 672,164 shares during the last quarter. Select Equity Group L.P. bought a new position in shares of Raymond James Financial during the fourth quarter worth $81,611,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Raymond James Financial by 19.1% during the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,901,435 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $403,038,000 after acquiring an additional 466,129 shares during the last quarter. 83.83% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on RJF. Citigroup restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Raymond James Financial in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Raymond James Financial from $136.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on shares of Raymond James Financial from $167.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Raymond James Financial from $155.00 to $163.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, July 11th. Finally, JMP Securities raised their target price on shares of Raymond James Financial from $175.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a "market outperform" rating in a report on Monday, July 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $163.80.

Raymond James Financial Stock Down 0.5%

NYSE RJF traded down $0.86 during trading on Friday, reaching $170.22. 1,188,301 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 826,323. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 1.02. The firm has a market cap of $33.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 1.04. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $164.55 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $150.93. Raymond James Financial, Inc. has a 12-month low of $116.89 and a 12-month high of $174.32.

Raymond James Financial (NYSE:RJF - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.18 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $2.36 by ($0.18). The company had revenue of $3.40 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.38 billion. Raymond James Financial had a return on equity of 18.38% and a net margin of 13.56%.The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.39 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Raymond James Financial, Inc. will post 11.17 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Raymond James Financial Announces Dividend

The firm 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, October 1st. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.2%. Raymond James Financial's dividend payout ratio is presently 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.