AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc Sells 134,218 Shares of Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF)

AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc lowered its holdings in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) by 34.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 255,318 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 134,218 shares during the quarter. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc’s holdings in Jefferies Financial Group were worth $20,030,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Co. bought a new position in Jefferies Financial Group in the third quarter worth approximately $286,476,000. FMR LLC increased its holdings 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. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 157.2% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 802,366 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $62,905,000 after acquiring an additional 490,389 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 95.7% during the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 780,877 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $48,063,000 after purchasing an additional 381,893 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC boosted its position in Jefferies Financial Group by 20.6% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 2,014,387 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $123,987,000 after purchasing an additional 344,409 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 60.88% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Jefferies Financial Group

In other Jefferies Financial Group news, CEO Richard B. Handler sold 400,000 shares of the company’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 sale, 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 represents a 2.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, President Brian P. Friedman sold 393,397 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.17, for a total value of $28,391,461.49. Following the sale, the president now directly owns 560,507 shares in the company, valued at $40,451,790.19. This represents a 41.24 % 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 worth $76,381,151 over the last 90 days. 20.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Jefferies Financial Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE JEF opened at $76.15 on Friday. 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 market cap of $15.65 billion, a PE ratio of 25.55 and a beta of 1.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.53, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 1.03. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $77.67 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $66.52.

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 8th. The financial services provider reported $0.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.97 by ($0.06). The firm had revenue of $1.96 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 was up 63.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.30 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Jefferies Financial Group Inc. will post 4.55 EPS 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 issued a $0.40 dividend. This is an increase from Jefferies Financial Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.35. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.10%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. Jefferies Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio is 46.98%.

Jefferies Financial Group 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.