Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Invests $1.73 Million in Prudential Financial, Inc. $PRU

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System purchased a new position in shares of Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU) during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 17,700 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,729,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of PRU. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC raised its holdings in shares of Prudential Financial by 9.1% in the first quarter. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC now owns 16,787 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,640,000 after buying an additional 1,399 shares during the last quarter. MBM Wealth Consultants LLC increased its position in Prudential Financial by 12.3% in the 1st quarter. MBM Wealth Consultants LLC now owns 4,570 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $446,000 after acquiring an additional 500 shares in the last quarter. Davis Investment Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Prudential Financial in the 1st quarter valued at about $214,000. Eagle Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Prudential Financial by 0.9% in the first quarter. Eagle Capital Management LLC now owns 35,909 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,508,000 after acquiring an additional 323 shares during the last quarter. Finally, OP Asset Management Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Prudential Financial during the first quarter worth approximately $3,482,000. Institutional investors own 56.83% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently weighed in on PRU shares. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Prudential Financial from $93.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 12th. Mizuho increased their price objective on Prudential Financial from $96.00 to $101.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on Prudential Financial from $91.00 to $87.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group lowered Prudential Financial from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their price target for the company from $124.00 to $98.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on Prudential Financial from $89.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and five have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $101.92.

Prudential Financial Stock Performance

Shares of Prudential Financial stock opened at $111.16 on Thursday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $102.99 and a two-hundred day moving average of $104.12. The stock has a market capitalization of $38.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.44, a PEG ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 0.85. Prudential Financial, Inc. has a 52 week low of $91.89 and a 52 week high of $119.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a quick ratio of 0.16 and a current ratio of 0.16.

Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The financial services provider reported $3.61 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.09 by $0.52. The business had revenue of $15.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.10 billion. Prudential Financial had a return on equity of 16.33% and a net margin of 5.83%.During the same period last year, the company earned $3.29 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Prudential Financial, Inc. will post 13.81 EPS for the current year.

Prudential Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 11th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 26th were given a dividend of $1.40 per share. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.0%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 26th. Prudential Financial’s payout ratio is presently 57.61%.

Prudential Financial Profile

Prudential Financial, Inc, headquartered in Newark, New Jersey, is a diversified financial services company with roots dating to 1875. The firm provides a range of insurance, retirement and investment products aimed at helping individual and institutional clients manage risk, accumulate and protect wealth, and plan for retirement. Prudential’s long history in life insurance and related financial services has positioned it as a major participant in the U.S. insurance market and a provider of services to a broad client base.

Prudential’s core business activities include individual life insurance, annuities, retirement solutions and group insurance products for employers.