Pitcairn Co. Cuts Holdings in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF)

Pitcairn Co. lowered its holdings in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) by 11.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 4,823 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 611 shares during the quarter. Pitcairn Co.’s holdings in Jefferies Financial Group were worth $297,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Marshall Wace LLP lifted its stake in Jefferies Financial Group by 365.9% during 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 acquiring an additional 1,529,218 shares during the period. Artemis Investment Management LLP bought a new position in Jefferies Financial Group during the second quarter valued at approximately $58,211,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its holdings in Jefferies Financial Group by 15.3% in 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 during the last quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. bought a new stake in Jefferies Financial Group in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $21,148,000. Finally, Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC raised its stake in Jefferies Financial Group by 12.9% during 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 buying an additional 389,385 shares during the last quarter. 60.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Mitsui Financial Grou Sumitomo purchased 9,247,081 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 19th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $59.67 per share, for a total transaction of $551,773,323.27. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 9,247,081 shares in the company, valued at $551,773,323.27. This trade represents a ? increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Richard B. Handler sold 400,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were 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 owns 14,971,288 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,081,825,270.88. The trade was a 2.60 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 1,286,923 shares of company stock worth $88,999,151 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 20.40% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently commented on JEF. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on Jefferies Financial Group from $73.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Jefferies Financial Group from $59.00 to $64.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. Finally, UBS Group began coverage on shares of Jefferies Financial Group in a research report on Tuesday, September 17th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $67.00 price target on the stock.

Jefferies Financial Group Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE:JEF opened at $78.93 on Thursday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $67.03 and a 200 day moving average of $57.38. The company has a market cap of $16.22 billion, a PE ratio of 33.73 and a beta of 1.31. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has a 12-month low of $34.34 and a 12-month high of $80.53. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.53.

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, September 25th. The financial services provider reported $0.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.78 by ($0.03). Jefferies Financial Group had a return on equity of 6.40% and a net margin of 9.27%. The firm had revenue of $1.68 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.71 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.32 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 42.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect 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 was paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 18th were issued a dividend of $0.35 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 18th. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.77%. Jefferies Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 59.83%.

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.