California Public Employees Retirement System Cuts Stake in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF)

California Public Employees Retirement System decreased its holdings in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF - Free Report) by 6.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 358,110 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 25,198 shares during the period. California Public Employees Retirement System owned 0.17% of Jefferies Financial Group worth $14,471,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its stake in Jefferies Financial Group by 1,093.0% during the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,829,942 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $67,031,000 after acquiring an additional 1,676,549 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in Jefferies Financial Group by 100.4% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,290,810 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $47,282,000 after acquiring an additional 646,666 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in Jefferies Financial Group by 80.2% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,265,002 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $46,337,000 after acquiring an additional 562,810 shares in the last quarter. Strs Ohio grew its stake in Jefferies Financial Group by 1,126.9% during the fourth quarter. Strs Ohio now owns 587,412 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $23,737,000 after acquiring an additional 539,534 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd purchased a new position in Jefferies Financial Group during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $17,037,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 60.88% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Jefferies Financial Group

In other news, CEO Richard B. Handler sold 1,500,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.50, for a total value of $65,250,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 15,314,150 shares in the company, valued at approximately $666,165,525. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 20.40% of the company's stock.

Jefferies Financial Group Price Performance

Jefferies Financial Group stock traded up $0.16 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $43.22. 828,057 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,061,320. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has a one year low of $28.81 and a one year high of $47.39. The stock has a market cap of $9.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.43 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 0.91. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $43.22 and a 200-day moving average price of $39.50.

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 27th. The financial services provider reported $0.87 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.76 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $1.74 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.52 billion. Jefferies Financial Group had a net margin of 5.90% and a return on equity of 4.41%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 35.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.55 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Jefferies Financial Group Inc. will post 3.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Jefferies Financial Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 20th will be issued a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 17th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.78%. Jefferies Financial Group's payout ratio is 98.36%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on shares of Jefferies Financial Group from $54.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Jefferies Financial Group from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $44.00.

Jefferies Financial Group 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.