Amalgamated Bank decreased its position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF - Free Report) by 9.2% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 79,010 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 7,958 shares during the period. Amalgamated Bank's holdings in Jefferies Financial Group were worth $4,863,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.
Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Rothschild Investment LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group in the 2nd quarter worth $25,000. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV boosted its holdings in Jefferies Financial Group by 75.7% in the second quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 520 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 224 shares in the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 1,993.8% during the second quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 670 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 638 shares during the last quarter. Eastern Bank acquired a new position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group during the third quarter valued at about $42,000. Finally, Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $48,000. 60.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
JEF has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. UBS Group assumed coverage on shares of Jefferies Financial Group in a research note on Tuesday, September 17th. They set a "buy" rating and a $67.00 price target on the stock. Oppenheimer raised their target price on Jefferies Financial Group from $71.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Jefferies Financial Group from $59.00 to $64.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, September 23rd.
Read Our Latest Analysis on JEF
JEF stock opened at $70.42 on Friday. 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 firm's fifty day simple moving average is $62.53 and its 200-day simple moving average is $54.42. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has a 12 month low of $33.16 and a 12 month high of $72.76. The company has a market capitalization of $14.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.09 and a beta of 1.31.
Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, September 25th. The financial services provider reported $0.75 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 company had revenue of $1.68 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.71 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.32 earnings per share. Jefferies Financial Group's revenue for the quarter was up 42.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Jefferies Financial Group Inc. will post 3.13 earnings per share for the current year.
The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 18th will be issued a $0.35 dividend. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.99%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 18th. Jefferies Financial Group's payout ratio is presently 59.83%.
In other news, Director Robert D. Beyer sold 46,200 shares of Jefferies Financial Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.07, for a total transaction of $2,960,034.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 100,375 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,431,026.25. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, Director Robert D. Beyer sold 46,200 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.07, for a total transaction of $2,960,034.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 100,375 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,431,026.25. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Richard B. Handler sold 400,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 14,971,288 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,081,825,270.88. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 1,286,923 shares of company stock valued at $88,999,151 in the last 90 days. 20.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.
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.
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