Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) Shares Bought by Pictet Asset Management Holding SA

Pictet Asset Management Holding SA boosted its stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) by 6.1% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 21,936 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,255 shares during the quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA’s holdings in Jefferies Financial Group were worth $1,720,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of JEF. Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Co. acquired a new stake in Jefferies Financial Group during the third quarter worth about $286,476,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 57.4% during the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,941,692 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $309,029,000 after purchasing an additional 1,437,179 shares during the period. Barclays PLC increased its holdings in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 20.6% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 2,014,387 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $123,987,000 after purchasing an additional 344,409 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 2.9% in the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,645,844 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $129,028,000 after purchasing an additional 47,141 shares during the period. Finally, Artemis Investment Management LLP boosted its holdings in Jefferies Financial Group by 9.3% during the fourth quarter. Artemis Investment Management LLP now owns 1,394,805 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $109,353,000 after buying an additional 118,886 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 60.88% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have weighed in on JEF shares. StockNews.com cut shares of Jefferies Financial Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, March 31st. Oppenheimer cut Jefferies Financial Group from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $75.00 price objective on Jefferies Financial Group in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on Jefferies Financial Group from $81.00 to $75.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 27th.

Jefferies Financial Group Stock Down 10.2 %

JEF opened at $43.08 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $8.88 billion, a PE ratio of 14.46 and a beta of 1.29. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has a twelve month low of $40.72 and a twelve month high of $82.68. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $63.94 and a 200 day moving average price of $69.13. The company has a quick ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.57.

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, March 26th. The financial services provider reported $0.60 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.88 by ($0.28). The firm had revenue of $1.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.93 billion. Jefferies Financial Group had a net margin of 10.57% and a return on equity of 7.92%. Jefferies Financial Group’s revenue was down 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.87 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Jefferies Financial Group Inc. will post 4.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Jefferies Financial Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 29th. Investors of record on Monday, May 19th will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 19th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.71%. Jefferies Financial Group’s payout ratio is presently 55.36%.

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.