Nisa Investment Advisors LLC Sells 500 Shares of Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF)

Nisa Investment Advisors LLC decreased its holdings in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) by 0.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 75,852 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 500 shares during the quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Jefferies Financial Group were worth $5,947,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group in the third quarter valued at about $32,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in Jefferies Financial Group by 158.3% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 514 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 315 shares during the last quarter. Eastern Bank acquired a new stake in Jefferies Financial Group during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV raised its holdings in Jefferies Financial Group by 68.1% during the 3rd quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 1,071 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $66,000 after purchasing an additional 434 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quarry LP acquired a new position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $70,000. 60.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Jefferies Financial Group

In other Jefferies Financial Group news, President Brian P. Friedman sold 247,326 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.20, for a total transaction of $16,125,655.20. Following the completion of the sale, the president now directly owns 1,632,277 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $106,424,460.40. The trade was a 13.16 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Richard B. Handler sold 400,000 shares of Jefferies Financial Group stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 14,971,288 shares in the company, 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. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 1,086,923 shares of company stock valued at $76,381,151. Corporate insiders own 20.40% of the company’s stock.

Jefferies Financial Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE JEF opened at $76.15 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $77.67 and its 200-day moving average price is $66.52. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has a 1-year low of $39.58 and a 1-year high of $82.68. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.55 and a beta of 1.35. 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 issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 8th. The financial services provider reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.97 by ($0.06). Jefferies Financial Group had a net margin of 10.57% and a return on equity of 7.97%. The firm had revenue of $1.96 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.83 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.30 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 63.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Jefferies Financial Group Inc. will post 4.55 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. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. This is an increase from Jefferies Financial Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.35. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.10%. Jefferies Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 46.98%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

About Jefferies Financial Group

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.