Redwood Investment Management LLC Buys New Position in Prudential Financial, Inc. $PRU

Redwood Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 8,235 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $889,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Jessup Wealth Management Inc purchased a new stake in Prudential Financial during the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Garton & Associates Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Prudential Financial in the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. increased its position in shares of Prudential Financial by 93.1% during the 1st quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 278 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 134 shares during the last quarter. Coston McIsaac & Partners raised its holdings in shares of Prudential Financial by 93.4% during the 4th quarter. Coston McIsaac & Partners now owns 265 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 128 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wealth Watch Advisors INC purchased a new stake in Prudential Financial in the third quarter worth approximately $30,000. Institutional investors own 56.83% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Prudential Financial news, EVP Ann M. Kappler sold 7,652 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 owned 14,407 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,801,019.07. This trade represents a 34.69% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Insurance Co Of Ame Prudential sold 214,746 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 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 company insiders.

Prudential Financial Stock Performance

Shares of PRU stock opened at $120.43 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a quick ratio of 0.16 and a current ratio of 0.16. Prudential Financial, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $91.89 and a fifty-two week high of $127.72. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $117.69 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $106.17. The company has a market capitalization of $41.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.91, a PEG ratio of 2.26 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 expect that Prudential Financial, Inc. will post 14.3 earnings per share 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 4.6%. Prudential Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 50.72%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PRU has been the topic of several research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on shares of Prudential Financial from $113.00 to $123.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 11th. 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. TD Cowen increased their target price on shares of Prudential Financial from $102.00 to $114.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Argus cut shares of Prudential Financial from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 9th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on shares of Prudential Financial from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, July 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and five have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $109.31.

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.