Qsemble Capital Management LP Lowers Holdings in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF)

Qsemble Capital Management LP trimmed its holdings in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) by 73.4% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 7,628 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 21,020 shares during the period. Qsemble Capital Management LP’s holdings in Jefferies Financial Group were worth $470,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. CIBC Asset Management Inc lifted its position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 3.4% in the third quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 6,162 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $379,000 after acquiring an additional 204 shares in the last quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV increased its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 224 shares during the last quarter. Fulton Bank N.A. increased its holdings in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 1.5% in the third quarter. Fulton Bank N.A. now owns 14,824 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $912,000 after purchasing an additional 224 shares during the last quarter. United Services Automobile Association increased its holdings in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 2.0% in the second quarter. United Services Automobile Association now owns 13,219 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $658,000 after purchasing an additional 264 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. increased its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 295 shares during the last quarter. 60.88% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Richard B. Handler sold 400,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 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 represents a 2.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Robert D. Beyer sold 46,200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 100,375 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,431,026.25. This represents a 31.52 % 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 over the last ninety days. 20.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Jefferies Financial Group Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE JEF opened at $78.93 on Thursday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $67.03 and its two-hundred day moving average is $57.38. 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 Inc. has a 1-year low of $34.34 and a 1-year high of $80.53. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.73 and a beta of 1.31.

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 the consensus estimate of $1.71 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.32 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 42.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Jefferies Financial Group Inc. will post 3.13 EPS for the current year.

Jefferies Financial Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 18th were paid a dividend of $0.35 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 18th. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.77%. Jefferies Financial Group’s payout ratio is currently 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.