22,849 Shares in Prudential Financial, Inc. $PRU Acquired by Equitable Holdings Inc.

Equitable Holdings Inc. purchased a new position in Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 22,849 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $2,466,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of PRU. Centaurus Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Prudential Financial during the second quarter worth $114,000. Harvey Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in Prudential Financial in the 2nd quarter valued at $280,000. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Prudential Financial in the 2nd quarter worth $6,761,000. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio bought a new position in shares of Prudential Financial during the 2nd quarter valued at about $13,494,000. Finally, MASTERINVEST Kapitalanlage GmbH bought a new position in shares of Prudential Financial during the 2nd quarter valued at about $2,098,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 56.83% of the company’s stock.

Prudential Financial Price Performance

Shares of PRU stock opened at $119.80 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $41.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.85, a P/E/G ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 0.84. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $117.95 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $106.27. Prudential Financial, Inc. has a one year low of $91.89 and a one year high of $127.72. 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 (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, beating the consensus estimate of $3.52 by $0.56. Prudential Financial had a net margin of 6.51% and a return on equity of 16.68%. The firm had revenue of $14.15 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.36 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.58 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Prudential Financial, Inc. will post 14.35 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. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 25th will be issued a $1.40 dividend. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.7%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 25th. Prudential Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 50.72%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on PRU. Argus cut Prudential Financial from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 9th. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on Prudential Financial from $110.00 to $128.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Prudential Financial from $129.00 to $131.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, August 17th. Zacks Research raised shares of Prudential Financial from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, June 12th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Prudential Financial from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Thursday, July 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and five have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Prudential Financial has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $109.31.

Insider Activity

In other news, 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 14,407 shares in the company, 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 this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Insurance Co Of Ame Prudential sold 214,746 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 28th. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $197,348,010.75. The trade was a 2.62% 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 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.