Wedge Capital Management L L P NC Sells 2,287 Shares of Stifel Financial Corp. (NYSE:SF)

Wedge Capital Management L L P NC reduced its position in shares of Stifel Financial Corp. (NYSE:SF - Free Report) by 11.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 17,626 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 2,287 shares during the period. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC's holdings in Stifel Financial were worth $1,870,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Waldron Private Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Stifel Financial in the third quarter valued at $34,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in 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 purchasing an additional 109 shares during the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its stake in Stifel Financial by 46.5% during the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 457 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $48,000 after purchasing an additional 145 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. grew its position in Stifel Financial by 36.6% in the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 870 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $82,000 after purchasing an additional 233 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of 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 valued at $113,000 after purchasing an additional 717 shares during the period. 82.01% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, COO David D. Sliney sold 25,000 shares of Stifel Financial stock in a transaction dated 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 directly 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 4.57% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on SF. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Stifel Financial from $130.00 to $128.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on Stifel Financial from $85.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, September 26th. TD Cowen upped their price objective on shares of Stifel Financial from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. JMP Securities raised their target price on shares of Stifel Financial from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a "market outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. started coverage on shares of Stifel Financial in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $120.00 price target for the company. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $107.14.

Stifel Financial Stock Up 1.5 %

Shares of NYSE SF traded up $1.68 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $115.56. 317,815 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 714,853. The company's fifty day moving average is $110.71 and its two-hundred day moving average is $97.97. Stifel Financial Corp. has a fifty-two week low of $69.72 and a fifty-two week high of $119.12. 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 stock has a market cap of $11.83 billion, a PE ratio of 20.92 and a beta of 1.11.

Stifel Financial (NYSE:SF - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The financial services provider reported $1.50 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.60 by ($0.10). Stifel Financial had a return on equity of 14.92% and a net margin of 12.98%. The firm had revenue of $1.23 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.20 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.60 EPS. The business's revenue was up 17.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that Stifel Financial Corp. will post 6.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Stifel Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 2nd were issued a $0.42 dividend. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.45%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 2nd. Stifel Financial's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 30.38%.

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.