8,000 Shares in Stifel Financial Corp. (NYSE:SF) Acquired by Janney Montgomery Scott LLC

Janney Montgomery Scott LLC purchased a new position in shares of Stifel Financial Corp. (NYSE:SF - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 8,000 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $849,000.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in SF. Waldron Private Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Stifel Financial during the 3rd quarter worth $34,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in shares of Stifel Financial by 27.7% in the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 503 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $47,000 after buying an additional 109 shares during the period. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its holdings in Stifel Financial by 46.5% in the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 457 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $48,000 after acquiring an additional 145 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. raised its holdings in Stifel Financial by 36.6% in the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 870 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $82,000 after acquiring an additional 233 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Stifel Financial by 148.1% in the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,201 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $113,000 after acquiring an additional 717 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.01% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, COO David D. Sliney sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $116.18, for a total transaction of $2,904,500.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 159,619 shares of the company's stock, valued at $18,544,535.42. This trade represents a 13.54 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 4.57% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. initiated coverage on shares of Stifel Financial in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $120.00 price objective on the stock. Citigroup raised their price target on Stifel Financial from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, January 10th. TD Cowen upped their price objective on Stifel Financial from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. JMP Securities raised their target price on Stifel Financial from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a "market outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on Stifel Financial from $116.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $117.71.

Stifel Financial Stock Performance

NYSE:SF traded down $3.78 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $109.62. 1,174,989 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 734,011. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $110.40 and a 200-day simple moving average of $101.22. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.57 and a beta of 1.11. Stifel Financial Corp. has a 1 year low of $72.78 and a 1 year high of $120.64. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27.

Stifel Financial (NYSE:SF - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $2.23 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.96 by $0.27. Stifel Financial had a return on equity of 16.59% and a net margin of 14.00%. Analysts anticipate that Stifel Financial Corp. will post 8.26 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Stifel Financial Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.46 per share. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.68%. This is an increase from Stifel Financial's previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 3rd. Stifel Financial's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.92%.

Stifel Financial Profile

Stifel Financial Corp., a financial services and bank holding company, provides retail and institutional wealth management, and investment banking services to individual investors, corporations, municipalities, and institutions in the United States and internationally. It operates in three segments: Global Wealth Management, Institutional Group, and Other.