Brian Friedman, President of Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF), recently sold a significant portion of the company's common stock. According to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Friedman sold a total of 393,397 shares in two separate transactions on November 6, 2024. The shares were sold at prices ranging from $72.00 to $72.56 and $72.345 to $72.42 per share, resulting in a total transaction value of approximately $28.4 million.
Following these transactions, Friedman's holdings in Jefferies Financial Group, through various entities, include 1,282,979 shares held by his trust, 560,507 shares by his LLC, 2,376,315 shares directly, 496,780 shares by a family limited partnership, and 42,139 shares as a trustee of a profit-sharing plan.
In other recent news, Jefferies Financial Group reported third-quarter earnings and revenue that fell short of analyst expectations. The company recorded net earnings of $167 million, equivalent to $0.75 per diluted share, missing the projected $0.77 per share. Revenue was reported at $1.68 billion, lower than the anticipated $1.74 billion. Despite this, Jefferies saw a strong performance in its Investment Banking segment, with net revenues surging 47% year-over-year to $949 million, driven by record quarterly advisory revenues of $592 million. The company's Capital Markets net revenues dipped 3% sequentially to $671 million, yet rose 28.1% compared to the same quarter last year. For the fiscal year, Jefferies generated net earnings of $463 million, or $2.06 per diluted share, on revenues of $5.08 billion. Furthermore, Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) has updated its outlook on Jefferies, increasing the price target to $67 from $64, while maintaining an Equalweight rating, reflecting the company's robust performance and market share gains. These are some of the recent developments concerning Jefferies Financial Group.
InvestingPro Insights
Brian Friedman's recent sale of Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) shares comes at a time when the company's stock is trading near its 52-week high, with a price that is 99.04% of its peak. This aligns with several InvestingPro Tips that highlight the company's strong recent performance. For instance, JEF has shown significant returns over various time frames, including a 12.63% return in the past week and an impressive 114.48% return over the last year.
The company's financial health appears robust, with InvestingPro Data showing a market capitalization of $14.83 billion and a revenue of $6.25 billion for the last twelve months as of Q3 2024. JEF's revenue growth is noteworthy, with a 26.5% increase over the same period and a substantial 42.42% quarterly growth in Q3 2024.
Investors should note that despite the recent stock sale by the company's president, JEF has maintained dividend payments for 15 consecutive years, as per an InvestingPro Tip. The current dividend yield stands at 1.94%, with a 16.67% dividend growth in the last twelve months.
For those interested in a deeper analysis, InvestingPro offers 13 additional tips that could provide further insights into Jefferies Financial Group's performance and outlook. These tips, available on the InvestingPro platform, could be particularly valuable given the company's recent stock price movements and executive transactions.
This article was generated with the support of AI and reviewed by an editor. For more information see our T&C.