Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) President Sells $12,618,000.00 in Stock

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) President Brian P. Friedman sold 200,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.09, for a total transaction of $12,618,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the president now directly owns 604,606 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $38,144,592.54. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink.

Jefferies Financial Group Stock Performance

NYSE JEF traded down $0.47 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $63.10. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,737,619 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,228,158. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $58.75 and a 200 day simple moving average of $51.24. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has a 52 week low of $31.38 and a 52 week high of $64.54. The stock has a market cap of $12.97 billion, a PE ratio of 34.86 and a beta of 1.32.

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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). Jefferies Financial Group had a return on equity of 5.37% and a net margin of 7.82%. The company had revenue of $1.68 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.71 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.32 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 42.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that Jefferies Financial Group Inc. will post 3.23 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Jefferies Financial Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Investors of record on Monday, November 18th will be paid a dividend of $0.35 per share. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.22%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 18th. Jefferies Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 77.35%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Jefferies Financial Group

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Rothschild Investment LLC acquired a new stake in Jefferies Financial Group during the second quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV boosted its stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 75.7% during the 2nd quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 520 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 224 shares in the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its holdings in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 1,993.8% in the 2nd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 670 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 638 shares during the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group during the second quarter worth $48,000. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group during the second quarter valued at $80,000. Institutional investors own 60.88% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently weighed in on JEF. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on Jefferies Financial Group from $64.00 to $66.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, September 13th. StockNews.com lowered Jefferies Financial Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, June 21st. UBS Group assumed coverage on Jefferies Financial Group in a research report on Tuesday, September 17th. They set a “buy” rating and a $67.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Jefferies Financial Group from $59.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, September 23rd.

About Jefferies Financial Group

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.