52,320 Shares in Prudential Financial, Inc. $PRU Purchased by Graham Capital Management L.P.

Graham Capital Management L.P. purchased a new position in Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 52,320 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $5,906,000.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of PRU. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Prudential Financial in the 4th quarter worth about $140,530,000. Marshall Wace LLP raised its holdings in Prudential Financial by 230.3% in the 4th quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,374,966 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $155,206,000 after purchasing an additional 958,672 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its holdings in Prudential Financial by 183.3% in the 3rd quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 804,316 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $83,440,000 after purchasing an additional 520,425 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley raised its holdings in Prudential Financial by 6.7% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 6,649,202 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $750,562,000 after purchasing an additional 420,081 shares during the period. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board raised its holdings in Prudential Financial by 209.2% in the 2nd quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 520,025 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $55,871,000 after purchasing an additional 351,849 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 56.83% of the company’s stock.

Prudential Financial Price Performance

NYSE:PRU opened at $109.19 on Wednesday. Prudential Financial, Inc. has a one year low of $91.89 and a one year high of $119.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a quick ratio of 0.16 and a current ratio of 0.16. The stock has a market cap of $37.89 billion, a PE ratio of 11.23, a P/E/G ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 0.86. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $100.98 and a 200 day moving average price of $104.34.

Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The financial services provider reported $3.61 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.09 by $0.52. Prudential Financial had a return on equity of 16.33% and a net margin of 5.83%.The firm had revenue of $15.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.10 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $3.29 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Prudential Financial, Inc. will post 13.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Prudential Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 11th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 26th were issued a $1.40 dividend. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 26th. Prudential Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 57.61%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. UBS Group reduced their price target on Prudential Financial from $105.00 to $98.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 9th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on Prudential Financial from $91.00 to $87.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. Morgan Stanley reissued an “underweight” rating and set a $92.00 target price (down from $106.00) on shares of Prudential Financial in a report on Monday, May 4th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Prudential Financial from $93.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 12th. Finally, Argus cut Prudential Financial from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 9th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and five have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $101.50.

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.