Merrion Investment Management Co LLC Sells 3,000 Shares of Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF)

Merrion Investment Management Co LLC decreased its holdings in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) by 1.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). 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 11.5% of Merrion Investment Management Co LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its largest holding. Merrion Investment Management Co LLC owned about 0.10% of Jefferies Financial Group worth $16,598,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Bank of Montreal Can increased its holdings in Jefferies Financial Group by 10.7% in the second quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 21,866 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,089,000 after buying an additional 2,110 shares during the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp increased its holdings in Jefferies Financial Group by 18.1% in the second quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 31,619 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,573,000 after buying an additional 4,851 shares during the last quarter. Creative Planning increased its holdings in Jefferies Financial Group by 14.3% in the second quarter. Creative Planning now owns 23,924 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,190,000 after buying an additional 2,995 shares during the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. increased its holdings in Jefferies Financial Group by 4.6% in the second quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 6,765 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $337,000 after buying an additional 295 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Gordian Capital Singapore Pte Ltd acquired a new position in Jefferies Financial Group in the second quarter worth approximately $199,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 60.88% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Jefferies Financial Group

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently commented on JEF shares. Oppenheimer dropped 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. Morgan Stanley upgraded Jefferies Financial Group from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the company from $67.00 to $97.00 in a report on Monday, December 9th.

Jefferies Financial Group Stock Down 0.5 %

Shares of JEF stock opened at $75.88 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $15.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.46 and a beta of 1.35. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has a one year low of $39.58 and a one year high of $82.68. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $77.75 and a 200 day moving average price of $67.10. 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 issued 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 return on equity of 7.97% and a net margin of 10.57%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 63.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.30 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Jefferies Financial Group Inc. will post 4.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Jefferies Financial Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 27th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th will be given a $0.40 dividend. This is a boost from Jefferies Financial Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.35. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.11%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. Jefferies Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 46.98%.

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.