St. James's Place (LON:STJ) Trading Down 7.7% - Time to Sell?

Key Points

• St. James's Place shares fell 7.7% in Friday trading, dropping to as low as GBX 1,139 before last trading at GBX 1,165.82. Volume was well below normal, with about 5.7 million shares changing hands versus an average of 24.4 million.
• Analysts remain cautiously positive overall despite some target-price cuts. The stock currently carries a “Moderate Buy” consensus with a price target of GBX 1,689.71, based on five Buy ratings and two Hold ratings.
• Recent insider activity showed confidence from management, as Penny James bought 8,418 shares on May 11 at an average price of GBX 1,182, for a total of about £99,500.76.

St. James's Place plc (LON:STJ - Get Free Report)'s stock price was down 7.7% during mid-day trading on Friday . The company traded as low as GBX 1,139 and last traded at GBX 1,165.82. Approximately 5,685,180 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 77% from the average session volume of 24,408,869 shares. The stock had previously closed at GBX 1,263.50.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

STJ has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Citigroup dropped their price target on shares of St. James's Place from GBX 1,810 to GBX 1,790 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed a "sector perform" rating and set a GBX 1,400 price objective on shares of St. James's Place in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Berenberg Bank reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a GBX 1,800 target price on shares of St. James's Place in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their target price on shares of St. James's Place from GBX 2,050 to GBX 2,000 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, June 24th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of St. James's Place from GBX 1,686 to GBX 1,663 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of GBX 1,689.71.

St. James's Place Stock Down 7.7%

The stock has a market capitalization of £5.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 1.02. The business's 50-day moving average is GBX 1,196.22 and its two-hundred day moving average is GBX 1,291.68. The company has a quick ratio of 3.85, a current ratio of 3.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 36.73.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other St. James's Place news, insider Penny James bought 8,418 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, May 11th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of GBX 1,182 per share, with a total value of £99,500.76. 1.21% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

St. James's Place Company Profile

We plan, grow and protect the financial futures of over one million clients across the UK by providing holistic advice-led wealth management, delivered exclusively by the Partnership, our group of more than 4,900 highly skilled advisers. We offer an integrated client proposition, through which we provide financial advice, investment product wrappers such as pensions, investment bonds and ISAs, and offer our own range of investment funds and portfolios.

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