Northern Trust Corp Buys 327,739 Shares of Raymond James (NYSE:RJF)

Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in shares of Raymond James (NYSE:RJF - Free Report) by 18.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,107,218 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 327,739 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp owned 1.03% of Raymond James worth $327,314,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Barclays PLC increased its position in Raymond James by 33.5% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 847,108 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $103,738,000 after buying an additional 212,697 shares during the period. Virtu Financial LLC bought a new stake in Raymond James in the 3rd quarter valued at about $308,000. Pine Valley Investments Ltd Liability Co increased its holdings in shares of Raymond James by 18.7% during the third quarter. Pine Valley Investments Ltd Liability Co now owns 2,788 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $341,000 after purchasing an additional 439 shares during the period. World Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Raymond James by 7.3% in the third quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 28,290 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $3,464,000 after buying an additional 1,924 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB boosted its stake in shares of Raymond James by 1.5% in the third quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 67,439 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $8,259,000 after buying an additional 1,026 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 83.83% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price on Raymond James from $198.00 to $173.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Raymond James from $176.00 to $143.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on shares of Raymond James from $170.00 to $177.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Bank of America downgraded shares of Raymond James from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $159.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Citigroup reduced their target price on Raymond James from $180.00 to $150.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $153.82.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider James E. Bunn sold 3,650 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $136.49, for a total value of $498,188.50. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 78,227 shares of the company's stock, valued at $10,677,203.23. The trade was a 4.46 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.54% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Raymond James Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE:RJF traded up $0.37 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $142.13. 425,515 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,293,511. The business's 50-day moving average price is $138.90 and its 200 day moving average price is $152.19. The stock has a market capitalization of $29.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.87, a P/E/G ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 1.02. Raymond James has a 12 month low of $104.24 and a 12 month high of $174.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.03.

Raymond James (NYSE:RJF - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.44 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $3.40 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.46 billion. Raymond James had a net margin of 14.06% and a return on equity of 19.71%. Raymond James's revenue was up 9.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.31 EPS. Analysts predict that Raymond James will post 11.17 earnings per share for the current year.

Raymond James Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 1st were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, April 1st. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.41%. Raymond James's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 19.25%.

About Raymond James

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.