Principal Financial Group Inc. Decreases Position in Raymond James Financial, Inc. $RJF

Principal Financial Group Inc. lessened its holdings in Raymond James Financial, Inc. (NYSE:RJF) by 0.5% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 572,799 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 3,153 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Raymond James Financial were worth $91,989,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in RJF. Empowered Funds LLC raised its position in Raymond James Financial by 8.2% in the 1st 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 increased its position in shares of Raymond James Financial by 41.8% in the first quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 15,580 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,164,000 after acquiring an additional 4,592 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Raymond James Financial by 137.3% in the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,184 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $182,000 after acquiring an additional 685 shares during the period. Brown Advisory Inc. increased its position in shares of Raymond James Financial by 15.1% in the second quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 2,268 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $348,000 after acquiring an additional 298 shares during the period. Finally, Cresset Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Raymond James Financial in the second quarter valued at about $363,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.83% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on RJF shares. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $166.00 price objective (up from $158.00) on shares of Raymond James Financial in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of Raymond James Financial from $152.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Raymond James Financial from $171.00 to $172.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 28th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Raymond James Financial from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Friday, February 20th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price target on shares of Raymond James Financial from $165.00 to $145.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 6th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $173.25.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Bella Loykhter Allaire sold 29,551 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $142.34, for a total value of $4,206,289.34. Following the transaction, the insider owned 53,586 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,627,431.24. This represents a 35.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.58% of the company’s stock.

Raymond James Financial Trading Up 0.5%

NYSE:RJF opened at $159.64 on Thursday. Raymond James Financial, Inc. has a one year low of $138.82 and a one year high of $177.66. 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’s 50-day simple moving average is $149.80 and its 200 day simple moving average is $158.31. The firm has a market capitalization of $31.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.09, a PEG ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 0.99.

Raymond James Financial (NYSE:RJF) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 22nd. The financial services provider reported $2.83 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.76 by $0.07. Raymond James Financial had a net margin of 13.04% and a return on equity of 18.01%. The business had revenue of $3.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.92 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.42 earnings per share. Raymond James Financial’s quarterly revenue was up 13.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Raymond James Financial, Inc. will post 11.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Raymond James Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 1st were paid a $0.54 dividend. This represents a $2.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, April 1st. Raymond James Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 20.42%.

About Raymond James Financial

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.