Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) Shares Purchased by Bridgewater Associates LP

Bridgewater Associates LP increased its stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) by 10.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 29,488 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,762 shares during the period. Bridgewater Associates LP’s holdings in Jefferies Financial Group were worth $1,815,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its holdings in Jefferies Financial Group by 15.3% in the second quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 7,049,815 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $350,799,000 after purchasing an additional 936,424 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 1.8% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,232,280 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $210,591,000 after acquiring an additional 76,327 shares in the last quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC lifted its position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 12.9% in the second quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC now owns 3,396,255 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $168,998,000 after acquiring an additional 389,385 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 782.5% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,286,958 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $202,312,000 after acquiring an additional 2,914,504 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 1.6% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,168,909 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $107,925,000 after acquiring an additional 34,295 shares in the last quarter. 60.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

JEF has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. UBS Group initiated coverage on Jefferies Financial Group in a research report on Tuesday, September 17th. They set a “buy” rating and a $67.00 price objective on the stock. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on Jefferies Financial Group from $73.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Jefferies Financial Group from $59.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 23rd.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Jefferies Financial Group news, CEO Richard B. Handler sold 400,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.26, for a total value of $28,904,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 14,971,288 shares in the company, valued at $1,081,825,270.88. This represents a 2.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Mitsui Financial Grou Sumitomo purchased 9,247,081 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 19th. The stock was bought at an average price of $59.67 per share, for a total transaction of $551,773,323.27. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 9,247,081 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $551,773,323.27. The trade was a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 1,286,923 shares of company stock worth $88,999,151. Company insiders own 20.40% of the company’s stock.

Jefferies Financial Group Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE JEF opened at $79.14 on Monday. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has a twelve month low of $35.05 and a twelve month high of $80.53. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.53. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $68.06 and a 200-day simple moving average of $57.99. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.26 billion, a PE ratio of 33.82 and a beta of 1.31.

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, September 25th. The financial services provider reported $0.75 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.78 by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $1.68 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.71 billion. Jefferies Financial Group had a net margin of 9.27% and a return on equity of 6.40%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 42.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.32 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Jefferies Financial Group Inc. will post 3.13 earnings per share for the current year.

Jefferies Financial Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Investors of record on Monday, November 18th were paid a dividend of $0.35 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 18th. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.77%. Jefferies Financial Group’s payout ratio is 59.83%.

About Jefferies Financial Group

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.