Raymond James Trust N.A. Lowers Stock Holdings in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF)

Raymond James Trust N.A. reduced its stake in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) by 15.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 14,135 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 2,665 shares during the quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A.’s holdings in Jefferies Financial Group were worth $870,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Marshall Wace LLP lifted its holdings in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 365.9% in the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,947,192 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $96,892,000 after buying an additional 1,529,218 shares during the period. Artemis Investment Management LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $58,211,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 15.3% in the 2nd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 7,049,815 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $350,799,000 after buying an additional 936,424 shares during the period. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $21,148,000. Finally, Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 12.9% in the 2nd quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC now owns 3,396,255 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $168,998,000 after buying an additional 389,385 shares during the period. 60.88% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently commented on the company. Oppenheimer raised their price target on Jefferies Financial Group from $73.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Jefferies Financial Group from $59.00 to $64.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, September 23rd. Finally, UBS Group assumed coverage on Jefferies Financial Group in a report on Tuesday, September 17th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $67.00 price target for the company.

Jefferies Financial Group Stock Performance

Shares of JEF stock opened at $78.58 on Monday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $66.26 and a 200 day moving average price of $56.91. The stock has a market cap of $16.15 billion, a PE ratio of 33.58 and a beta of 1.31. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has a 1 year low of $34.34 and a 1 year high of $78.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.53, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 1.03.

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, September 25th. The financial services provider reported $0.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.78 by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $1.68 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.71 billion. Jefferies Financial Group had a return on equity of 6.40% and a net margin of 9.27%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 42.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.32 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Jefferies Financial Group Inc. will post 3.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Jefferies Financial Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Investors of record on Monday, November 18th will be issued a dividend of $0.35 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 18th. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.78%. Jefferies Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 59.83%.

Insider Transactions at Jefferies Financial Group

In other news, President Brian P. Friedman sold 393,397 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.17, for a total value of $28,391,461.49. Following the completion of the transaction, the president now directly owns 560,507 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $40,451,790.19. The trade was a 41.24 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Mitsui Financial Grou Sumitomo purchased 9,247,081 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 19th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $59.67 per share, with a total value of $551,773,323.27. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 9,247,081 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $551,773,323.27. The trade was a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 1,286,923 shares of company stock valued at $88,999,151 over the last three months. 20.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Jefferies Financial Group Company Profile

Jefferies Financial Group Inc operates as an investment banking and capital markets firm in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, and the Asia-Pacific. The company operates in two segments, Investment Banking and Capital Markets, and Asset Management. It provides investment banking, advisory services with respect to mergers or acquisitions, debt financing, restructurings or recapitalizations, and private capital advisory transactions; underwriting and placement services related to corporate debt, municipal bonds, mortgage-backed and asset-backed securities, equity and equity-linked securities, and loan syndication services; and corporate lending services.