Swiss National Bank Sells 5,400 Shares of Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF)

Swiss National Bank cut its holdings in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF – Get Rating) by 1.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 449,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 5,400 shares during the quarter. Swiss National Bank owned approximately 0.20% of Jefferies Financial Group worth $15,392,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. grew its stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. now owns 17,422 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $597,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. Kwmg LLC grew its stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Kwmg LLC now owns 15,466 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $530,000 after purchasing an additional 331 shares during the last quarter. Ellevest Inc. grew its stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 34.3% in the fourth quarter. Ellevest Inc. now owns 1,323 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $45,000 after purchasing an additional 338 shares during the last quarter. Boenning & Scattergood Inc. grew its stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Boenning & Scattergood Inc. now owns 17,566 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $577,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Arizona State Retirement System grew its stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 52,475 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,799,000 after purchasing an additional 407 shares during the last quarter. 66.04% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have weighed in on JEF shares. Morgan Stanley cut Jefferies Financial Group from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $28.00 to $27.00 in a research report on Wednesday, April 12th. StockNews.com started coverage on Jefferies Financial Group in a research report on Sunday, March 26th. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. Finally, Oppenheimer cut their price objective on Jefferies Financial Group from $42.00 to $40.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $36.00.

Jefferies Financial Group Price Performance

JEF stock opened at $29.61 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $31.30 and a 200-day moving average price of $35.07. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has a 52-week low of $25.88 and a 52-week high of $40.80. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.65 and a beta of 1.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a current ratio of 1.07.

Jefferies Financial Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 26th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 12th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.05%. Jefferies Financial Group’s payout ratio is 51.28%.

About Jefferies Financial Group

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Jefferies Financial Group, Inc is a holding company, which engages in the provision of financial services. It operates through Investment Banking and Capital Markets, and Asset Management. The Investment Banking and Capital Markets segment provides investment banking, capital markets, and other related services.