Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. Trims Stock Position in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF)

Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. reduced its stake in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) by 5.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 11,841 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 674 shares during the quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc.’s holdings in Jefferies Financial Group were worth $729,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of JEF. Marshall Wace LLP increased its stake in Jefferies Financial Group by 365.9% in the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,947,192 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $96,892,000 after buying an additional 1,529,218 shares during the period. Artemis Investment Management LLP acquired a new position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group during the second quarter worth about $58,211,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its holdings in Jefferies Financial Group by 15.3% during 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 in the last quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. acquired a new stake in Jefferies Financial Group in the second quarter valued at about $21,148,000. Finally, Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC boosted its holdings in Jefferies Financial Group by 12.9% in the 2nd quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC now owns 3,396,255 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $168,998,000 after purchasing an additional 389,385 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 60.88% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently commented on JEF shares. Morgan Stanley raised their price target 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. UBS Group assumed coverage on Jefferies Financial Group in a research report on Tuesday, September 17th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $67.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Oppenheimer boosted their target price on shares of Jefferies Financial Group from $73.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Robert D. Beyer sold 46,200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.07, for a total value of $2,960,034.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 100,375 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,431,026.25. This represents a 31.52 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Mitsui Financial Grou Sumitomo purchased 9,247,081 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 19th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $59.67 per share, with a total value of $551,773,323.27. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 9,247,081 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $551,773,323.27. This represents a ∞ increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have sold 1,286,923 shares of company stock worth $88,999,151 over the last ninety days. 20.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Jefferies Financial Group Stock Performance

JEF opened at $74.19 on Friday. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has a 1-year low of $34.34 and a 1-year high of $75.81. The stock has a market cap of $15.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.70 and a beta of 1.31. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $64.40 and its 200 day simple moving average is $55.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.53, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 1.03.

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) last posted its earnings results 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.71 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.32 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 42.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Jefferies Financial Group Inc. will post 3.13 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Jefferies Financial Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 18th will be issued a $0.35 dividend. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.89%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 18th. Jefferies Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 59.83%.

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.