United Asset Strategies Inc. Takes $2.56 Million Position in Raymond James Financial, Inc. $RJF

Key Points

• United Asset Strategies Inc. acquired 15,927 shares of Raymond James (NYSE:RJF) as a new position in the fourth quarter, valued at approximately $2.56 million.
• About 83.83% of RJF is owned by institutional investors, with several large firms recently increasing stakes — notably Munich Re's new ~$69.9M position and JPMorgan's holding of roughly 5.85M shares (~$1.01B).
• Raymond James reported Q1 EPS of $2.83 (beating estimates) and 13.4% YoY revenue growth to $3.86B (slightly below expectations); it pays a quarterly dividend of $0.54 (1.4% yield) and carries a consensus analyst rating of Hold with a $175.58 target.

United Asset Strategies Inc. acquired a new stake in Raymond James Financial, Inc. (NYSE:RJF - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 15,927 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $2,558,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in RJF. Munich Reinsurance Co Stock Corp in Munich acquired a new stake in shares of Raymond James Financial in the third quarter valued at approximately $69,861,000. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. grew its stake in shares of Raymond James Financial by 7,823.8% in the third quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 288,583 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $49,809,000 after buying an additional 284,941 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Raymond James Financial by 44.9% in the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 783,144 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $135,171,000 after buying an additional 242,552 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in shares of Raymond James Financial by 4.1% in 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of Raymond James Financial by 10.7% in 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 in the last quarter. 83.83% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Raymond James Financial Trading Down 0.3%

RJF stock opened at $154.14 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a current ratio of 1.06 and a quick ratio of 1.04. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $150.06 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $158.74. Raymond James Financial, Inc. has a one year low of $131.85 and a one year high of $177.66. The stock has a market cap of $30.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.00.

Raymond James Financial (NYSE:RJF - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 22nd. The financial services provider reported $2.83 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.76 by $0.07. Raymond James Financial had a net margin of 13.07% and a return on equity of 17.65%. The firm had revenue of $3.86 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.92 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.42 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 13.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that Raymond James Financial, Inc. will post 11.73 EPS for the current year.

Raymond James Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 1st were given a dividend of $0.54 per share. This represents a $2.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, April 1st. Raymond James Financial's payout ratio is 21.14%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Raymond James Financial news, insider Bella Loykhter Allaire sold 29,551 shares of Raymond James Financial 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 directly owned 53,586 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,627,431.24. The trade was a 35.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.58% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on RJF shares. UBS Group decreased their target price on shares of Raymond James Financial from $176.00 to $158.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 8th. TD Cowen reissued a "hold" rating on shares of Raymond James Financial in a research note on Wednesday, January 14th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Raymond James Financial from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research note on Friday, February 20th. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of Raymond James Financial from $196.00 to $174.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 8th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group decreased their target price on shares of Raymond James Financial from $165.00 to $145.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 6th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Raymond James Financial has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $175.58.

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.

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