Richard B. Handler Sells 400,000 Shares of Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) Stock

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) CEO Richard B. Handler sold 400,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.26, for a total transaction of $28,904,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 14,971,288 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,081,825,270.88. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website.

Jefferies Financial Group Stock Performance

NYSE JEF opened at $71.50 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $62.76 and its 200 day simple moving average is $54.61. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.56 and a beta of 1.31. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.53. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has a 1 year low of $33.16 and a 1 year high of $72.76.

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) last issued 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 net margin of 9.27% and a return on equity of 6.40%. The business had revenue of $1.68 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.71 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.32 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 42.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Jefferies Financial Group Inc. will post 3.13 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 given a dividend of $0.35 per share. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.96%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 18th. Jefferies Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio is 59.83%.

Institutional Trading of Jefferies Financial Group

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Marshall Wace LLP increased its holdings in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 365.9% during the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,947,192 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $96,892,000 after buying an additional 1,529,218 shares in the last quarter. Artemis Investment Management LLP bought a new position in Jefferies Financial Group in the second quarter valued at about $58,211,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its position in 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 valued at $350,799,000 after purchasing an additional 936,424 shares during the last quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group during the second quarter valued at about $21,148,000. Finally, Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC grew its holdings in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 12.9% during the second quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC now owns 3,396,255 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $168,998,000 after purchasing an additional 389,385 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 60.88% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on JEF. UBS Group initiated coverage on shares of Jefferies Financial Group in a research report on Tuesday, September 17th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $67.00 price target for the company. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective 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, Oppenheimer increased their target price on Jefferies Financial Group from $71.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday.

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.