Marshall Wace LLP Sells 311,055 Shares of Stifel Financial Corp. (NYSE:SF)

Marshall Wace LLP lowered its stake in Stifel Financial Corp. (NYSE:SF - Free Report) by 67.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 147,583 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 311,055 shares during the quarter. Marshall Wace LLP owned about 0.14% of Stifel Financial worth $15,656,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of SF. V Square Quantitative Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Stifel Financial during the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Bessemer Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Stifel Financial by 52.1% during the 4th quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 321 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 110 shares in the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its holdings in shares of Stifel Financial by 46.5% in the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 457 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $48,000 after acquiring an additional 145 shares during the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Stifel Financial by 26.6% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 528 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $56,000 after purchasing an additional 111 shares during the period. Finally, Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. boosted its position in shares of Stifel Financial by 84.3% in the 4th quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 553 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $59,000 after purchasing an additional 253 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 82.01% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SF has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on Stifel Financial from $123.00 to $100.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 11th. TD Cowen dropped their price target on shares of Stifel Financial from $124.00 to $84.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Wolfe Research raised shares of Stifel Financial from a "peer perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $108.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Thursday. Citigroup cut their target price on Stifel Financial from $125.00 to $105.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on Stifel Financial from $116.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $105.50.

Stifel Financial Price Performance

Shares of SF stock traded down $0.01 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $85.73. The company had a trading volume of 916,586 shares, compared to its average volume of 679,663. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 0.82. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.74 and a beta of 1.00. Stifel Financial Corp. has a 12 month low of $73.27 and a 12 month high of $120.64. The firm's fifty day moving average is $93.71 and its 200 day moving average is $103.93.

Stifel Financial (NYSE:SF - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.49 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.61 by ($1.12). Stifel Financial had a net margin of 14.00% and a return on equity of 16.59%. The firm had revenue of $1.26 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.32 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.49 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Stifel Financial Corp. will post 8.26 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Stifel Financial Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were given a dividend of $0.46 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 3rd. This is an increase from Stifel Financial's previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.15%. Stifel Financial's dividend payout ratio is presently 29.49%.

About Stifel Financial

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.