Park Avenue Securities LLC lifted its stake in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF – Free Report) by 39.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 34,088 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 9,582 shares during the period. Park Avenue Securities LLC’s holdings in Jefferies Financial Group were worth $2,672,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.
Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its holdings in Jefferies Financial Group by 157.2% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 802,366 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $62,905,000 after purchasing an additional 490,389 shares during the period. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group in the fourth quarter valued at about $267,000. Friedenthal Financial purchased a new stake in Jefferies Financial Group in the fourth quarter worth about $772,000. Harbour Capital Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Jefferies Financial Group by 27.3% during the 4th quarter. Harbour Capital Advisors LLC now owns 27,435 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,222,000 after acquiring an additional 5,890 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Diversified Trust Co bought a new position in Jefferies Financial Group during the 4th quarter worth about $2,124,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 60.88% of the company’s stock.
Jefferies Financial Group Stock Up 1.7 %
NYSE:JEF opened at $75.74 on Friday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $77.44 and its 200-day simple moving average is $65.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.53, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 1.03. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $38.77 and a fifty-two week high of $82.68. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.42 and a beta of 1.35.
Jefferies Financial Group Increases Dividend
The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This is a boost from Jefferies Financial Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.35. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.11%. Jefferies Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 53.69%.
Analyst Ratings Changes
Several brokerages have recently weighed in on JEF. Oppenheimer lowered their price target on shares of Jefferies Financial Group from $82.00 to $81.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Morgan Stanley raised Jefferies Financial Group from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their target price for the company from $67.00 to $97.00 in a research report on Monday, December 9th.
Read Our Latest Stock Analysis on JEF
Insiders Place Their Bets
In related news, President Brian P. Friedman sold 247,326 shares of Jefferies Financial Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.20, for a total value of $16,125,655.20. Following the completion of the sale, the president now directly owns 1,632,277 shares in the company, valued at $106,424,460.40. This trade represents a 13.16 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Richard B. Handler sold 400,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 14,971,288 shares in the company, valued at $1,081,825,270.88. The trade was a 2.60 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 1,086,923 shares of company stock valued at $76,381,151. 20.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.
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.
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