Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) Shares Sold by Raymond James & Associates

Raymond James & Associates cut its stake in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF – Get Rating) by 2.4% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 115,770 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 2,861 shares during the quarter. Raymond James & Associates’ holdings in Jefferies Financial Group were worth $3,415,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in Jefferies Financial Group by 201.2% during the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,328,739 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $109,350,000 after buying an additional 2,223,630 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP raised its position in Jefferies Financial Group by 44.6% in the 1st quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 7,152,883 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $234,972,000 after purchasing an additional 2,207,065 shares during the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC boosted its stake in Jefferies Financial Group by 187.0% during the 1st quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 657,289 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $21,592,000 after purchasing an additional 428,300 shares during the period. Mackenzie Financial Corp grew its position in Jefferies Financial Group by 1,276.8% during the 2nd quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 320,276 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $8,846,000 after purchasing an additional 297,013 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Burgundy Asset Management Ltd. increased its stake in Jefferies Financial Group by 8.2% in the second quarter. Burgundy Asset Management Ltd. now owns 3,723,641 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $102,847,000 after purchasing an additional 282,113 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 66.04% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Jefferies Financial Group

In related news, President Brian P. Friedman sold 500,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.85, for a total value of $16,425,000.00. Following the sale, the president now owns 6,722,213 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $220,824,697.05. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders own 17.90% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered Jefferies Financial Group from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $38.00 to $37.00 in a report on Wednesday, December 21st. Oppenheimer dropped their target price on Jefferies Financial Group to $46.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded Jefferies Financial Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $40.00 price target for the company. in a report on Tuesday, January 10th. Finally, StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Jefferies Financial Group in a research note on Wednesday, October 12th. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $37.75.

Jefferies Financial Group Stock Performance

NYSE:JEF opened at $37.47 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.11, a current ratio of 2.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $25.88 and a fifty-two week high of $40.80. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $36.80 and its 200-day simple moving average is $33.70. The stock has a market cap of $8.57 billion, a PE ratio of 12.37 and a beta of 1.40.

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF – Get Rating) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, January 9th. The financial services provider reported $0.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.57. Jefferies Financial Group had a return on equity of 8.32% and a net margin of 12.90%. The firm had revenue of $1.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.25 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.36 earnings per share. Jefferies Financial Group’s revenue was down 20.4% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Jefferies Financial Group Inc. will post 3.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Jefferies Financial Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 24th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 13th will be given a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.20%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 10th. Jefferies Financial Group’s payout ratio is currently 39.60%.

Jefferies Financial Group Company Profile

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Jefferies Financial Group, Inc is a holding company, which engages in the provision of financial services. It operates through the following segments: Investment Banking, Capital Markets, and Asset Management, Merchant Banking, and Corporate. The Investment Banking, Capital Markets, and Asset Management segment consists of investments in Jefferies Group.