Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership Has $30.50 Million Stake in Prudential Financial, Inc. $PRU

Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its holdings in Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU) by 61.4% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 283,891 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 108,052 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership’s holdings in Prudential Financial were worth $30,501,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of PRU. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Prudential Financial in the second quarter valued at approximately $122,778,000. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in Prudential Financial during the first quarter valued at about $90,010,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Prudential Financial by 1.4% in the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 42,502,160 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,566,432,000 after purchasing an additional 600,482 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its stake in Prudential Financial by 49.2% during the second quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,720,781 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $184,192,000 after purchasing an additional 567,571 shares during the period. Finally, VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al acquired a new stake in Prudential Financial during the second quarter valued at approximately $28,579,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 56.83% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Prudential Financial from $117.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 7th. Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of Prudential Financial from $120.00 to $122.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Prudential Financial from $120.00 to $117.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on Prudential Financial from $117.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, November 3rd. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Prudential Financial in a report on Monday, December 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $119.50.

Prudential Financial Stock Up 1.3%

PRU stock opened at $111.68 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 0.16 and a quick ratio of 0.16. The stock has a market capitalization of $39.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.34, a P/E/G ratio of 0.91 and a beta of 0.97. Prudential Financial, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $90.38 and a fifty-two week high of $127.82. The business has a 50-day moving average of $104.56 and a 200-day moving average of $104.96.

Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 15th. The financial services provider reported $3.58 EPS for the quarter. Prudential Financial had a return on equity of 16.60% and a net margin of 4.65%.The firm had revenue of $8.35 billion for the quarter. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Prudential Financial, Inc. will post 14.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Prudential Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 11th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 18th will be paid a dividend of $1.35 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 18th. This represents a $5.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.8%. Prudential Financial’s payout ratio is currently 74.18%.

Insider Activity at Prudential Financial

In other news, SVP Timothy L. Schmidt sold 8,000 shares of Prudential Financial stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $107.69, for a total transaction of $861,520.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 11,535 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,242,204.15. The trade was a 40.95% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Chairman Charles F. Lowrey sold 48,164 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $107.39, for a total transaction of $5,172,331.96. Following the sale, the chairman owned 165,564 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,779,917.96. This represents a 22.54% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

Prudential Financial Profile

Prudential Financial, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides insurance, investment management, and other financial products and services in the United States and internationally. It operates through PGIM, Retirement Strategies, Group Insurance, Individual Life, and International Businesses segments.