Brian P. Friedman Sells 200,000 Shares of Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) Stock

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) President Brian P. Friedman sold 200,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.09, for a total value of $12,618,000.00. Following the transaction, the president now directly owns 604,606 shares in the company, valued at $38,144,592.54. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

Jefferies Financial Group Trading Up 1.8 %

Shares of NYSE JEF opened at $64.24 on Friday. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has a 1 year low of $31.38 and a 1 year high of $64.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.91. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $59.09 and a 200 day moving average of $51.46. The stock has a market cap of $13.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.45 and a beta of 1.32.

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, September 25th. The financial services provider reported $0.75 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.78 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $1.68 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.71 billion. Jefferies Financial Group had a return on equity of 6.46% 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 earned $0.32 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Jefferies Financial Group Inc. will post 3.13 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Jefferies Financial Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 2.18%. Jefferies Financial Group’s payout ratio is presently 59.83%.

Institutional Trading of Jefferies Financial Group

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Creative Planning lifted its position in Jefferies Financial Group by 18.2% in the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 28,273 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,740,000 after acquiring an additional 4,349 shares in the last quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management purchased a new stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group during the third quarter valued at $229,000. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 5.2% during the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 8,080 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $497,000 after buying an additional 401 shares during the last quarter. USA Financial Formulas bought a new stake in Jefferies Financial Group in the 3rd quarter worth about $346,000. Finally, Daymark Wealth Partners LLC raised its position in Jefferies Financial Group by 21.5% in the 3rd quarter. Daymark Wealth Partners LLC now owns 5,925 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $365,000 after buying an additional 1,050 shares during the last quarter. 60.88% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

JEF has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on shares of Jefferies Financial Group from $64.00 to $66.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, September 13th. StockNews.com cut shares of Jefferies Financial Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, June 21st. UBS Group initiated coverage on Jefferies Financial Group in a research report on Tuesday, September 17th. They set a “buy” rating and a $67.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Jefferies Financial Group from $59.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research 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.