Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio Invests $13.49 Million in Prudential Financial, Inc. $PRU

Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio bought a new position in shares of Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU) during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor bought 125,029 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $13,494,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. MASTERINVEST Kapitalanlage GmbH purchased a new position in Prudential Financial in the second quarter valued at approximately $2,098,000. Triton Financial Group Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Prudential Financial during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $219,000. Jacobs Equity LLC acquired a new position in shares of Prudential Financial in the 2nd quarter valued at $345,000. Redwood Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Prudential Financial in the 2nd quarter valued at $889,000. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Prudential Financial during the 2nd quarter worth $201,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 56.83% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently commented on PRU. Argus cut Prudential Financial from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 9th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Prudential Financial from $103.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 19th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on shares of Prudential Financial from $113.00 to $123.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 11th. Barclays boosted their price target on Prudential Financial from $90.00 to $92.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. Finally, Zacks Research raised Prudential Financial from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, June 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and five have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $109.31.

Insider Buying and Selling at Prudential Financial

In related 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 sale, the executive vice president directly owned 14,407 shares in the company, valued at $1,801,019.07. The trade was a 34.69% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 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 completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 7,973,657 shares in the company, valued at $197,348,010.75. This trade represents a 2.62% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders own 0.05% of the company’s stock.

Prudential Financial Stock Up 0.0%

Shares of NYSE PRU opened at $119.80 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $41.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 0.84. Prudential Financial, Inc. has a 52 week low of $91.89 and a 52 week high of $127.72. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $117.95 and a 200 day moving average price of $106.29. The company has a quick ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 0.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62.

Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The financial services provider reported $4.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 net margin of 6.51% and a return on equity of 16.68%. During the same period last year, the company posted $3.58 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Prudential Financial, Inc. will post 14.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Prudential Financial Dividend Announcement

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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 25th. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.7%. Prudential Financial’s dividend 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.