837,696 Shares in Prudential Financial, Inc. $PRU Acquired by Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd.

Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 837,696 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $90,413,000.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Jessup Wealth Management Inc acquired a new position in shares of Prudential Financial in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Garton & Associates Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Prudential Financial in the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Salomon & Ludwin LLC raised its holdings in shares of Prudential Financial by 98.3% during the fourth quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 230 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 114 shares during the period. Basepoint Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Prudential Financial in the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. Finally, Coston McIsaac & Partners raised its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 128 shares during the period. 56.83% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PRU has been the subject of a number of research reports. Mizuho raised their price objective on Prudential Financial from $101.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Prudential Financial from $90.00 to $92.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on shares of Prudential Financial from $91.00 to $87.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Prudential Financial from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 8th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on Prudential Financial from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, July 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and five have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $107.77.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Prudential Financial news, 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 owned 7,973,657 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $197,348,010.75. This represents a 2.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available 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 shares were sold at an average price of $125.01, for a total transaction of $956,576.52. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 14,407 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,801,019.07. This represents a 34.69% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 0.05% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Prudential Financial Trading Down 0.0%

Prudential Financial stock opened at $124.55 on Wednesday. Prudential Financial, Inc. has a one year low of $91.89 and a one year high of $127.72. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $115.78 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $105.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 0.16 and a quick ratio of 0.16. The company has a market capitalization of $42.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.28, a PEG ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 0.84.

Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The financial services provider reported $4.08 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.52 by $0.56. The company had revenue of $14.15 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.36 billion. Prudential Financial had a return on equity of 16.68% and a net margin of 6.51%.During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $3.58 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Prudential Financial, Inc. will post 14.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Prudential Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 25th will be issued a $1.40 dividend. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.5%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 25th. Prudential Financial’s payout ratio is 50.72%.

About Prudential Financial

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.