Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) Shares Sold by Merrion Investment Management Co LLC

Merrion Investment Management Co LLC trimmed its position in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) by 1.4% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 211,714 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 3,000 shares during the period. Jefferies Financial Group comprises approximately 11.5% of Merrion Investment Management Co LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its largest holding. Merrion Investment Management Co LLC’s holdings in Jefferies Financial Group were worth $16,598,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Baader Bank Aktiengesellschaft bought a new position in Jefferies Financial Group during the fourth quarter worth about $358,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in Jefferies Financial Group by 6.7% during the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 45,350 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,555,000 after buying an additional 2,828 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its holdings in Jefferies Financial Group by 39.8% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 7,059 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $553,000 after buying an additional 2,009 shares during the last quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management bought a new position in Jefferies Financial Group during the fourth quarter worth about $219,000. Finally, Beacon Investment Advisory Services Inc. boosted its holdings in Jefferies Financial Group by 5.3% during the fourth quarter. Beacon Investment Advisory Services Inc. now owns 172,151 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $13,497,000 after buying an additional 8,706 shares during the last quarter. 60.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Jefferies Financial Group Trading Down 0.5 %

NYSE:JEF opened at $75.88 on Thursday. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $39.58 and a fifty-two week high of $82.68. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $15.59 billion, a PE ratio of 25.46 and a beta of 1.35. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $77.75 and its 200-day simple moving average is $67.10.

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 8th. The financial services provider reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.97 by ($0.06). The firm had revenue of $1.96 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.83 billion. Jefferies Financial Group had a net margin of 10.57% and a return on equity of 7.97%. The company’s revenue was up 63.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.30 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Jefferies Financial Group Inc. will post 4.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Jefferies Financial Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced 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. This is a boost from Jefferies Financial Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.35. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.11%. Jefferies Financial Group’s payout ratio is presently 46.98%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have issued reports on JEF. Morgan Stanley upgraded Jefferies Financial Group from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $67.00 to $97.00 in a report on Monday, December 9th. Oppenheimer cut their price objective on Jefferies Financial Group from $82.00 to $81.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 3rd.

Insider Buying and Selling at Jefferies Financial Group

In other Jefferies Financial Group news, President Brian P. Friedman sold 393,397 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.17, for a total transaction of $28,391,461.49. Following the transaction, the president now owns 560,507 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $40,451,790.19. The trade was a 41.24 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Richard B. Handler sold 400,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.26, for a total value of $28,904,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 14,971,288 shares in the company, valued at $1,081,825,270.88. This trade represents a 2.60 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 20.40% 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.