Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) President Brian P. Friedman Sells 247,326 Shares

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) President Brian P. Friedman sold 247,326 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.20, for a total transaction of $16,125,655.20. Following the transaction, the president now owns 1,632,277 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $106,424,460.40. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink.

Jefferies Financial Group Trading Down 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE:JEF traded down $0.38 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $64.57. The company had a trading volume of 1,016,276 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,235,171. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $61.55 and a 200 day moving average price of $53.45. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has a one year low of $31.92 and a one year high of $67.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.53, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 1.03. The company has a market capitalization of $13.27 billion, a PE ratio of 27.59 and a beta of 1.32.

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) last posted 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 analyst estimates of $1.71 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.32 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 42.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Jefferies Financial Group Inc. will post 3.13 EPS for the current year.

Jefferies Financial Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Investors of record on Monday, November 18th will be given a $0.35 dividend. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.17%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 18th. Jefferies Financial Group’s payout ratio is currently 59.83%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Oppenheimer raised their price target on shares of Jefferies Financial Group from $64.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, September 13th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective 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. Finally, UBS Group began coverage on shares of Jefferies Financial Group in a research note on Tuesday, September 17th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $67.00 price objective for the company.

Institutional Trading of Jefferies Financial Group

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of JEF. State of Michigan Retirement System boosted its holdings in Jefferies Financial Group by 3.0% during the 1st quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 41,616 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,835,000 after acquiring an additional 1,200 shares during the last quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC boosted its holdings in Jefferies Financial Group by 23.6% during the 1st quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 41,898 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,848,000 after acquiring an additional 7,988 shares during the last quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama raised its stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 2.7% during the 1st quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 511,907 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $22,575,000 after purchasing an additional 13,567 shares during the period. Hartline Investment Corp bought a new stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group during the 1st quarter worth $413,000. Finally, Retirement Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 0.3% during the 1st quarter. Retirement Group LLC now owns 133,962 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,908,000 after purchasing an additional 458 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 60.88% of the company’s stock.

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.