MADDEN SECURITIES Corp Invests $73,000 in Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU)

MADDEN SECURITIES Corp bought a new position in shares of Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU – Get Rating) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 729 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $73,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of PRU. Cowa LLC grew its position in shares of Prudential Financial by 9,930.2% in the 1st quarter. Cowa LLC now owns 771,824 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $912,000 after purchasing an additional 764,129 shares during the period. Mariner LLC grew its position in shares of Prudential Financial by 2,197.4% in the 1st quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 690,184 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $81,560,000 after purchasing an additional 660,142 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Prudential Financial by 6.0% in the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,353,887 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $750,839,000 after purchasing an additional 356,957 shares during the period. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd grew its position in shares of Prudential Financial by 102.9% in the 3rd quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd now owns 496,298 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $42,572,000 after purchasing an additional 251,751 shares during the period. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc grew its position in shares of Prudential Financial by 6.4% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 3,276,897 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $313,535,000 after purchasing an additional 198,205 shares during the period. 56.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Prudential Financial

In other Prudential Financial news, EVP Andrew F. Sullivan sold 4,126 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $99.20, for a total transaction of $409,299.20. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 12,241 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,214,307.20. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other Prudential Financial news, EVP Andrew F. Sullivan sold 4,126 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $99.20, for a total transaction of $409,299.20. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 12,241 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,214,307.20. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Andrew F. Sullivan sold 11,405 shares of Prudential Financial stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.95, for a total transaction of $1,151,334.75. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 12,300 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,241,685. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.31% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Prudential Financial Trading Down 5.1 %

PRU opened at $78.02 on Friday. Prudential Financial, Inc. has a 1-year low of $76.90 and a 1-year high of $122.54. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $98.36 and its 200 day simple moving average is $98.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16, a quick ratio of 0.07 and a current ratio of 0.07.

Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU – Get Rating) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 7th. The financial services provider reported $2.42 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.57 by ($0.15). Prudential Financial had a negative net margin of 2.33% and a positive return on equity of 13.31%. The business had revenue of $12.65 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.78 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $3.18 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Prudential Financial, Inc. will post 12.2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Prudential Financial declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback program on Tuesday, February 7th that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the financial services provider to buy up to 2.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Prudential Financial Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 16th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 21st were paid a dividend of $1.25 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 17th. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.41%. This is a positive change from Prudential Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.20. Prudential Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -126.90%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have commented on PRU. StockNews.com began coverage on Prudential Financial in a research note on Thursday. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. Raymond James cut Prudential Financial from a “strong-buy” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $110.00 target price on shares of Prudential Financial in a research note on Thursday, February 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut Prudential Financial from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and cut their target price for the company from $98.00 to $96.00 in a research note on Monday, January 9th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Prudential Financial from $112.00 to $114.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 10th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and nine have given a hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $103.00.

Prudential Financial Company Profile

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Prudential Financial, Inc engages in the provision of insurance, investment management, and other financial products and services to both individual and institutional customers. It operates through the following segments: PGIM, U.S. Businesses, International Businesses, Closed Block, and Corporate and Others.