MML Investors Services LLC Has $399,000 Stock Position in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF)

MML Investors Services LLC lessened its stake in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) by 4.6% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,487 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 311 shares during the quarter. MML Investors Services LLC’s holdings in Jefferies Financial Group were worth $399,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. CIBC Asset Management Inc lifted its holdings in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 3.4% during the 3rd quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 6,162 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $379,000 after acquiring an additional 204 shares during the period. Fulton Bank N.A. lifted its stake in Jefferies Financial Group by 1.5% during 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 boosted its holdings in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 2.0% in the 2nd quarter. United Services Automobile Association now owns 13,219 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $658,000 after purchasing an additional 264 shares in the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. increased its stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 4.6% in the 2nd quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 6,765 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $337,000 after purchasing an additional 295 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Trust N.A. raised its holdings in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 1.9% during the 2nd quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 16,800 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $836,000 after buying an additional 317 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 60.88% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

JEF has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley upgraded Jefferies Financial Group from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $67.00 to $97.00 in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on shares of Jefferies Financial Group from $73.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Finally, UBS Group started coverage on shares of Jefferies Financial Group in a research report on Tuesday, September 17th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $67.00 target price on the stock.

Jefferies Financial Group Stock Up 1.7 %

Shares of NYSE JEF opened at $77.53 on Tuesday. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has a 1 year low of $38.77 and a 1 year high of $82.04. 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 has a market cap of $15.93 billion, a PE ratio of 33.13 and a beta of 1.35. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $72.86 and a 200 day simple moving average of $61.47.

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, September 25th. The financial services provider reported $0.75 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.78 by ($0.03). The business had revenue of $1.68 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.71 billion. Jefferies Financial Group had a return on equity of 6.40% and a net margin of 9.27%. Jefferies Financial Group’s revenue for the quarter was up 42.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.32 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Jefferies Financial Group Inc. will post 3.13 EPS for the current year.

Jefferies Financial Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 18th were paid a $0.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 18th. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.81%. Jefferies Financial Group’s payout ratio is 59.83%.

Insider Transactions at Jefferies Financial Group

In other Jefferies Financial Group news, CEO Richard B. Handler sold 400,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at approximately $1,081,825,270.88. This trade represents a 2.60 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Robert D. Beyer sold 46,200 shares of the company’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 completion of the sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 1,286,923 shares of company stock worth $88,999,151 over the last ninety days. 20.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.