Barclays PLC Raises Position in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF)

Barclays PLC raised its stake in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) by 20.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,014,387 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 344,409 shares during the quarter. Barclays PLC’s holdings in Jefferies Financial Group were worth $123,987,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of JEF. Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Co. purchased a new stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group in the third quarter worth approximately $286,476,000. FMR LLC raised its stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 782.5% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,286,958 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $202,312,000 after purchasing an additional 2,914,504 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP raised its stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 365.9% in the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,947,192 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $96,892,000 after purchasing an additional 1,529,218 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 15.3% in the second quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 7,049,815 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $350,799,000 after purchasing an additional 936,424 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group in the second quarter worth approximately $21,148,000. 60.88% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Jefferies Financial Group

In other Jefferies Financial Group news, CEO Richard B. Handler sold 400,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.26, for a total transaction of $28,904,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 14,971,288 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,081,825,270.88. This represents a 2.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Mitsui Financial Grou Sumitomo acquired 9,247,081 shares of Jefferies Financial Group stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 19th. The shares were purchased 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 $551,773,323.27. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 1,286,923 shares of company stock valued at $88,999,151. Company insiders own 20.40% of the company’s stock.

Jefferies Financial Group Stock Performance

Shares of JEF opened at $78.46 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.53. The company has a market capitalization of $16.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.53 and a beta of 1.35. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $70.37 and a 200 day moving average of $59.61. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has a 12 month low of $36.24 and a 12 month high of $81.08.

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

Jefferies Financial Group Dividend Announcement

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently commented on JEF. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on Jefferies Financial Group from $73.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Morgan Stanley raised Jefferies Financial Group from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the company from $67.00 to $97.00 in a research report on Monday. Finally, 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 for the company.

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.