19,435 Shares in Prudential Financial, Inc. $PRU Purchased by MASTERINVEST Kapitalanlage GmbH

MASTERINVEST Kapitalanlage GmbH acquired a new position in Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 19,435 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $2,098,000.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in PRU. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Prudential Financial in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $3,507,481,000. State Street Corp increased its position in Prudential Financial by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 17,234,061 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,945,381,000 after buying an additional 210,959 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Prudential Financial by 0.3% during 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 buying an additional 26,414 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley boosted its holdings in Prudential Financial by 6.7% in 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of Prudential Financial by 4.6% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,758,545 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $367,089,000 after acquiring an additional 166,641 shares during the last quarter. 56.83% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on PRU shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on Prudential Financial from $113.00 to $123.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 11th. Argus downgraded shares of Prudential Financial from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 9th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Prudential Financial from $92.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Prudential Financial from $129.00 to $131.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, August 17th. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on shares of Prudential Financial from $90.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and five have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $109.31.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, 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 shares were sold at an average price of $24.75, for a total value of $5,314,963.50. Following the sale, the insider owned 7,973,657 shares in the company, valued at approximately $197,348,010.75. This trade represents a 2.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Ann M. Kappler sold 7,652 shares of Prudential Financial 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 14,407 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,801,019.07. This trade represents a 34.69% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders own 0.05% of the company’s stock.

Prudential Financial Stock Up 0.2%

PRU stock opened at $120.43 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $41.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.91, a P/E/G ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 0.84. 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 1-year low of $91.89 and a 1-year high of $127.72. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $117.69 and a 200-day moving average price of $106.17.

Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 4th. The financial services provider reported $4.08 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.52 by $0.56. Prudential Financial had a return on equity of 16.68% and a net margin of 6.51%.The company had revenue of $14.15 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.36 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $3.58 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Prudential Financial, Inc. will post 14.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Prudential Financial Dividend Announcement

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

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.