Nicolet Advisory Services LLC Invests $228,000 in Raymond James (NYSE:RJF)

Nicolet Advisory Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of Raymond James (NYSE:RJF) during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund bought 1,478 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $228,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of RJF. Verition Fund Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Raymond James in the third quarter valued at approximately $519,000. Investment Management Corp of Ontario grew its stake in Raymond James by 50.9% in the 3rd quarter. Investment Management Corp of Ontario now owns 6,526 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $799,000 after acquiring an additional 2,200 shares during the period. Point72 Asset Management L.P. purchased a new stake in Raymond James in the 3rd quarter worth $11,124,000. Quarry LP lifted its holdings in Raymond James by 80.3% during the third quarter. Quarry LP now owns 420 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $51,000 after purchasing an additional 187 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quantinno Capital Management LP grew its position in shares of Raymond James by 59.7% in the third quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 26,428 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,236,000 after purchasing an additional 9,879 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.83% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently weighed in on RJF. Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of Raymond James from $180.00 to $150.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Raymond James from $168.00 to $176.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. UBS Group upgraded Raymond James from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Raymond James from $149.00 to $161.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Raymond James from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $164.64.

Raymond James Price Performance

Raymond James stock opened at $123.51 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $151.43 and a 200 day moving average price of $150.78. Raymond James has a 12-month low of $104.24 and a 12-month high of $174.32. The stock has a market cap of $25.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.05, a PEG ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 0.94.

Raymond James (NYSE:RJF) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $2.93 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.62 by $0.31. Raymond James had a net margin of 14.06% and a return on equity of 19.71%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Raymond James will post 11.17 earnings per share for the current year.

Raymond James Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 1st will be paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.62%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 1st. Raymond James’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 19.51%.

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.