Miracle Mile Advisors LLC Takes $267,000 Position in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF)

Miracle Mile Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 3,405 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $267,000.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Oppenheimer cut their target price on shares of Jefferies Financial Group from $82.00 to $81.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Jefferies Financial Group from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and increased their price objective for the company from $67.00 to $97.00 in a report on Monday, December 9th.

Insider Activity

In other Jefferies Financial Group news, President Brian P. Friedman sold 247,326 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.20, for a total transaction of $16,125,655.20. Following the sale, the president now directly owns 1,632,277 shares in the company, valued at $106,424,460.40. This represents a 13.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Robert D. Beyer sold 46,200 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.07, for a total transaction of $2,960,034.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 100,375 shares in the company, valued at $6,431,026.25. This represents a 31.52 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 1,086,923 shares of company stock valued at $76,381,151. 20.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Jefferies Financial Group Stock Up 1.7 %

Shares of Jefferies Financial Group stock traded up $1.28 on Friday, reaching $75.74. The stock had a trading volume of 1,636,828 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,270,730. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $77.35 and a 200 day moving average price of $65.45. The company has a quick ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.53. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has a 1 year low of $38.77 and a 1 year high of $82.68. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.42 and a beta of 1.35.

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 8th. The financial services provider reported $0.91 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.97 by ($0.06). Jefferies Financial Group had a return on equity of 7.97% and a net margin of 10.57%. The business had revenue of $1.96 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.83 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.30 EPS. Jefferies Financial Group's quarterly revenue was up 63.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Jefferies Financial Group Inc. will post 4.81 EPS for the current year.

Jefferies Financial Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 27th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th will be given 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.11%. Jefferies Financial Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 46.98%.

Jefferies Financial Group Company Profile

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.