9,845 Shares in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) Purchased by Friedenthal Financial

Friedenthal Financial acquired a new stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 9,845 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $772,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. CIBC Asset Management Inc grew its holdings in Jefferies Financial Group by 3.4% in the third quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 6,162 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $379,000 after purchasing an additional 204 shares during the period. Fulton Bank N.A. grew its stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Fulton Bank N.A. now owns 14,824 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $912,000 after buying an additional 224 shares during the period. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. increased its holdings in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 4.6% during the 2nd quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 6,765 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $337,000 after buying an additional 295 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 158.3% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 514 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 315 shares during the period. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. boosted its holdings in Jefferies Financial Group by 5.2% in the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 8,080 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $497,000 after acquiring an additional 401 shares during the last quarter. 60.88% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

JEF has been the topic of a number of research reports. Morgan Stanley upgraded Jefferies Financial Group from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $67.00 to $97.00 in a report on Monday, December 9th. Oppenheimer decreased their price objective on shares of Jefferies Financial Group from $82.00 to $81.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, UBS Group initiated coverage on shares of Jefferies Financial Group in a research report on Tuesday, September 17th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $67.00 price objective for the company.

Jefferies Financial Group Stock Down 0.8 %

Jefferies Financial Group stock traded down $0.54 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $70.94. 3,055,972 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,598,910. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.53, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 1.03. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $38.77 and a fifty-two week high of $82.68. The company's fifty day moving average price is $77.09 and its 200-day moving average price is $65.17. The company has a market cap of $14.58 billion, a PE ratio of 30.32 and a beta of 1.35.

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 8th. The financial services provider reported $0.91 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.97 by ($0.06). Jefferies Financial Group had a net margin of 9.27% and a return on equity of 6.40%. The firm had revenue of $1.96 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.83 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.30 earnings per share. Jefferies Financial Group's revenue for the quarter was up 63.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that Jefferies Financial Group Inc. will post 3.13 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Jefferies Financial Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.26%. This is a positive change from Jefferies Financial Group's previous quarterly dividend of $0.35. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. Jefferies Financial Group's payout ratio is presently 53.69%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Jefferies Financial Group news, Director Robert D. Beyer sold 46,200 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.07, for a total transaction of $2,960,034.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 100,375 shares in the company, valued at $6,431,026.25. This represents a 31.52 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, President Brian P. Friedman sold 393,397 shares of Jefferies Financial Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.17, for a total value of $28,391,461.49. Following the completion of the transaction, the president now owns 560,507 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $40,451,790.19. The trade was a 41.24 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 1,086,923 shares of company stock worth $76,381,151. 20.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.