Everence Capital Management Inc. Acquires New Position in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF)

Everence Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 3,340 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $262,000.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Co. purchased a new position in Jefferies Financial Group in the third quarter worth $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 purchasing an additional 2,914,504 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP lifted its stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 365.9% in the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,947,192 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $96,892,000 after purchasing an additional 1,529,218 shares during the period. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC boosted its holdings in Jefferies Financial Group by 12.9% during the second quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC now owns 3,396,255 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $168,998,000 after buying an additional 389,385 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its position in Jefferies Financial Group by 95.7% during the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 780,877 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $48,063,000 after buying an additional 381,893 shares during the period. 60.88% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently commented on JEF. UBS Group started coverage on 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 decreased their target price on Jefferies Financial Group from $82.00 to $81.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley upgraded 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 research report on Monday, December 9th.

Jefferies Financial Group Stock Performance

Shares of JEF opened at $79.56 on Wednesday. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has a 1 year low of $38.77 and a 1 year high of $82.68. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $76.17 and its 200 day simple moving average is $64.36. The company has a market capitalization of $16.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.00 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.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, President Brian P. Friedman sold 200,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.09, for a total transaction of $12,618,000.00. Following the transaction, the president now directly owns 604,606 shares in the company, valued at $38,144,592.54. This represents a 24.86 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Richard B. Handler sold 400,000 shares of the business’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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 14,971,288 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,081,825,270.88. The trade was a 2.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 1,286,923 shares of company stock valued at $88,999,151 in the last quarter. 20.40% of the stock is currently owned by company 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.