Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. Has $72.05 Million Stock Position in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF)

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. cut its holdings in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) by 4.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 1,170,577 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 55,778 shares during the quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. owned 0.57% of Jefferies Financial Group worth $72,049,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of JEF. CIBC Asset Management Inc lifted its position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 3.4% during the 3rd quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 6,162 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $379,000 after acquiring an additional 204 shares during the period. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV raised its holdings in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 75.7% during the second quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 520 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 224 shares during the period. Fulton Bank N.A. boosted its position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Fulton Bank N.A. now owns 14,824 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $912,000 after purchasing an additional 224 shares in the last quarter. United Services Automobile Association grew its stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 2.0% in the 2nd quarter. United Services Automobile Association now owns 13,219 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $658,000 after buying an additional 264 shares during the period. Finally, Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. increased its position in Jefferies Financial Group by 4.6% in the 2nd quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 6,765 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $337,000 after buying an additional 295 shares in the last quarter. 60.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Richard B. Handler sold 400,000 shares of the business’s 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 14,971,288 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,081,825,270.88. The trade was a 2.60 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, President Brian P. Friedman sold 200,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.09, for a total value of $12,618,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the president now owns 604,606 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $38,144,592.54. This represents a 24.86 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 1,286,923 shares of company stock worth $88,999,151 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 20.40% of the company’s stock.

Jefferies Financial Group Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of JEF stock opened at $78.93 on Friday. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has a 12-month low of $34.34 and a 12-month high of $80.53. The company has a quick ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.53. The company has a 50 day moving average of $67.39 and a 200-day moving average of $57.53. The firm has a market cap of $16.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.73 and a beta of 1.31.

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, September 25th. The financial services provider reported $0.75 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.78 by ($0.03). Jefferies Financial Group had a return on equity of 6.40% and a net margin of 9.27%. The business had revenue of $1.68 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.71 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.32 EPS. Jefferies Financial Group’s revenue for the quarter was up 42.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Jefferies Financial Group Inc. will post 3.13 earnings per share for the current year.

Jefferies Financial Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 18th. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.77%. Jefferies Financial Group’s payout ratio is 59.83%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have issued reports on the company. UBS Group initiated coverage on Jefferies Financial Group in a report on Tuesday, September 17th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $67.00 price target on the stock. Oppenheimer increased their target price on Jefferies Financial Group from $73.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Jefferies Financial Group from $59.00 to $64.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 23rd.

Jefferies Financial Group 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.