4,760 Shares in Prudential Financial, Inc. $PRU Purchased by West Family Investments Inc.

West Family Investments Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 4,760 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $514,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. NewEdge Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Prudential Financial during the second quarter valued at $207,000. Essential Partners LLC grew its position in Prudential Financial by 3,269.2% during the 2nd quarter. Essential Partners LLC now owns 876 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $95,000 after purchasing an additional 850 shares during the last quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC purchased a new position in Prudential Financial in the second quarter worth about $9,466,000. Foster & Motley Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Prudential Financial during the second quarter valued at approximately $4,323,000. Finally, First National Bank of Omaha bought a new stake in shares of Prudential Financial during the second quarter valued at approximately $10,231,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 56.83% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on Prudential Financial from $110.00 to $128.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 11th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on shares of Prudential Financial from $113.00 to $123.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 11th. Mizuho raised their price target on Prudential Financial from $101.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “underweight” rating and issued a $92.00 target price (down from $106.00) on shares of Prudential Financial in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Prudential Financial from $90.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. 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 company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $108.31.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Ann M. Kappler sold 7,652 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $125.01, for a total transaction of $956,576.52. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 14,407 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,801,019.07. The trade was a 34.69% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Insurance Co Of Ame Prudential sold 214,746 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.75, for a total transaction of $5,314,963.50. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 7,973,657 shares in the company, valued at approximately $197,348,010.75. This represents a 2.62% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 0.05% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Prudential Financial Trading Down 1.9%

Shares of NYSE:PRU opened at $122.21 on Thursday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $116.12 and a 200 day moving average of $105.53. The company has a market cap of $42.16 billion, a PE ratio of 11.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.84. Prudential Financial, Inc. has a 12-month low of $91.89 and a 12-month high of $127.72. The company has a current ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 0.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62.

Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The financial services provider reported $4.08 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.52 by $0.56. The business had revenue of $14.15 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.36 billion. Prudential Financial had a return on equity of 16.68% and a net margin of 6.51%.During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $3.58 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Prudential Financial, Inc. will post 14.17 EPS for the current year.

Prudential Financial Announces Dividend

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

Prudential Financial Company 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.