Foster & Motley Inc. Makes New Investment in Prudential Financial, Inc. $PRU

Foster & Motley Inc. purchased a new stake in Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU) in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm purchased 40,056 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $4,323,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in Prudential Financial in the 2nd quarter worth about $3,507,481,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new stake in shares of Prudential Financial during the second quarter valued at about $209,055,000. Deutsche Bank AG bought a new stake in shares of Prudential Financial during the second quarter valued at about $157,752,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its holdings in shares of Prudential Financial by 95.3% in the first quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 2,556,748 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $249,769,000 after buying an additional 1,247,371 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in Prudential Financial in the 4th quarter valued at $140,530,000. 56.83% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Prudential Financial Price Performance

Shares of Prudential Financial stock opened at $124.55 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 0.16 and a quick ratio of 0.16. Prudential Financial, Inc. has a one year low of $91.89 and a one year high of $127.72. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $115.78 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $105.44. The stock has a market capitalization of $42.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 0.84.

Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 firm had revenue of $14.15 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.36 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $3.58 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Prudential Financial, Inc. will post 14.17 EPS for the current year.

Prudential Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared 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 of this dividend is Tuesday, August 25th. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.5%. Prudential Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 50.72%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on PRU. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of Prudential Financial from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, July 10th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Prudential Financial from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 8th. TD Cowen upped their target price on Prudential Financial from $102.00 to $114.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 22nd. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Prudential Financial from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded shares of Prudential Financial from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, June 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and five have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $107.77.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

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.