Alliancebernstein L.P. Has $38.46 Million Stock Holdings in Raymond James (NYSE:RJF)

Alliancebernstein L.P. grew its position in Raymond James (NYSE:RJF) by 17.4% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 247,600 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 36,681 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P.’s holdings in Raymond James were worth $38,460,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in Raymond James in the fourth quarter valued at about $294,647,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Raymond James during the 4th quarter valued at about $105,701,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in Raymond James by 12.0% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,544,610 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $556,533,000 after purchasing an additional 488,245 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Raymond James by 433.4% in the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 567,460 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $88,144,000 after purchasing an additional 461,069 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Two Sigma Advisers LP acquired a new stake in Raymond James during the 3rd quarter worth $34,105,000. 83.83% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on RJF shares. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Raymond James from $168.00 to $176.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. 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. JMP Securities upped their price target on Raymond James from $175.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on shares of Raymond James from $170.00 to $177.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Raymond James from $149.00 to $161.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $164.64.

Raymond James Stock Performance

Shares of RJF opened at $123.51 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $151.43 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $150.99. 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 has a twelve month low of $104.24 and a twelve month high of $174.32. The firm 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 announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $2.93 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.62 by $0.31. Raymond James had a net margin of 14.06% and a return on equity of 19.71%. On average, analysts forecast that Raymond James will post 11.17 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Raymond James Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 1st will be given a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.62%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 1st. Raymond James’s dividend payout ratio 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.