Shelton Wealth Management LLC Has $1.17 Million Holdings in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF)

Shelton Wealth Management LLC trimmed its position in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) by 6.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 14,865 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 995 shares during the period. Shelton Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Jefferies Financial Group were worth $1,165,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of JEF. Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Co. acquired a new position in Jefferies Financial Group during the third quarter worth $286,476,000. FMR LLC grew its position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 782.5% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,286,958 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $202,312,000 after acquiring an additional 2,914,504 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP lifted 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 purchasing an additional 1,529,218 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its holdings in Jefferies Financial Group by 157.2% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 802,366 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $62,905,000 after purchasing an additional 490,389 shares during the period. Finally, Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC boosted its stake in shares of 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 worth $168,998,000 after acquiring an additional 389,385 shares during the period. 60.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have weighed in on JEF shares. Morgan Stanley raised shares of 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. Oppenheimer dropped their price target on Jefferies Financial Group from $82.00 to $81.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 3rd.

Insider Activity

In other Jefferies Financial Group news, CEO Richard B. Handler sold 400,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 14,971,288 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,081,825,270.88. This trade represents a 2.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Robert D. Beyer sold 46,200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.07, for a total value of $2,960,034.00. Following the completion of 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 1,086,923 shares of company stock valued at $76,381,151 in the last ninety days. 20.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Jefferies Financial Group Trading Up 1.7 %

Shares of Jefferies Financial Group stock opened at $75.74 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $77.44 and its 200 day moving average is $65.63. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.56 billion, a PE ratio of 25.42 and a beta of 1.35. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has a 1 year low of $38.77 and a 1 year high of $82.68. 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 released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 8th. The financial services provider reported $0.91 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.97 by ($0.06). The firm had revenue of $1.96 billion for 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 business’s revenue for the quarter was up 63.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.30 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Jefferies Financial Group Inc. will post 4.81 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Jefferies Financial Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be given a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This is a positive change from Jefferies Financial Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.35. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.11%. 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.