VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al Purchases Shares of 192,162 Prudential Financial, Inc. $PRU

VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al acquired a new position in shares of Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm acquired 192,162 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $20,740,000. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al owned 0.06% of Prudential Financial as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. California State Teachers Retirement System boosted its holdings in Prudential Financial by 10,014.4% during the 2nd quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 63,173,911 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $6,818,360,000 after acquiring an additional 62,549,318 shares during the period. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in Prudential Financial during the second quarter worth about $3,507,481,000. State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of Prudential Financial by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 17,234,061 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,945,381,000 after purchasing an additional 210,959 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Prudential Financial by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,533,806 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,078,904,000 after purchasing an additional 26,414 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased its position in shares of Prudential Financial by 6.7% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 6,649,202 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $750,562,000 after acquiring an additional 420,081 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 56.83% of the company’s stock.

Prudential Financial Price Performance

PRU stock opened at $122.06 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 0.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62. The company has a market cap of $42.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.06, a PEG ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 0.83. Prudential Financial, Inc. has a 12-month low of $91.89 and a 12-month high of $127.72. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $119.43 and a 200-day moving average of $106.98.

Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The financial services provider reported $4.08 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.52 by $0.56. Prudential Financial had a return on equity of 16.68% and a net margin of 6.51%.The business had revenue of $14.15 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.36 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $3.58 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Prudential Financial, Inc. will post 14.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Prudential Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 25th will be given a dividend of $1.40 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 25th. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.6%. Prudential Financial’s payout ratio is presently 50.72%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Ann Kappler sold 7,652 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $125.01, for a total value of $956,576.52. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 14,407 shares in the company, valued at $1,801,019.07. This represents a 34.69% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Insurance Co Of Ame Prudential sold 214,746 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.75, for a total transaction of $5,314,963.50. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 7,973,657 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $197,348,010.75. This trade represents a 2.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.05% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PRU has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on shares of Prudential Financial from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, July 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on Prudential Financial from $113.00 to $123.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 11th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Prudential Financial from $92.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 24th. Argus cut Prudential Financial from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 9th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Prudential Financial from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and five have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Prudential Financial has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $109.31.

About Prudential Financial

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.