O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC Buys 79,466 Shares of Prudential Financial, Inc. $PRU

O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU) by 71.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 190,609 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 79,466 shares during the quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Prudential Financial were worth $21,516,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. VCI Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Prudential Financial by 117.1% during the fourth quarter. VCI Wealth Management LLC now owns 19,292 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,178,000 after purchasing an additional 10,404 shares during the period. KBC Group NV boosted its position in Prudential Financial by 94.3% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 157,538 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $17,783,000 after purchasing an additional 76,461 shares during the period. Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co boosted its position in Prudential Financial by 22.0% during the third quarter. Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co now owns 108,839 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $11,291,000 after purchasing an additional 19,600 shares during the period. Munich Reinsurance Co Stock Corp in Munich boosted its position in Prudential Financial by 2,669.0% during the fourth quarter. Munich Reinsurance Co Stock Corp in Munich now owns 46,990 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,342,000 after purchasing an additional 45,293 shares during the period. Finally, Murphy Middleton Hinkle & Parker Inc. boosted its position in shares of Prudential Financial by 846.7% in the fourth quarter. Murphy Middleton Hinkle & Parker Inc. now owns 25,921 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,926,000 after acquiring an additional 23,183 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 56.83% of the company’s stock.

Prudential Financial Stock Down 0.8%

PRU opened at $103.81 on Tuesday. Prudential Financial, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $91.89 and a fifty-two week high of $119.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 0.16 and a quick ratio of 0.16. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $99.72 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $104.31. The company has a market capitalization of $36.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.68, a P/E/G ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 0.86.

Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The financial services provider reported $3.61 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.09 by $0.52. The firm had revenue of $15.23 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.10 billion. Prudential Financial had a net margin of 5.83% and a return on equity of 16.33%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $3.29 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Prudential Financial, Inc. will post 13.84 EPS for the current year.

Prudential Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 11th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 26th will be given a $1.40 dividend. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 26th. Prudential Financial’s dividend payout ratio is 57.61%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Bank of America reduced their price objective on Prudential Financial from $112.00 to $104.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 14th. Evercore reissued a “negative” rating on shares of Prudential Financial in a research report on Friday, March 6th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “underweight” rating and issued a $92.00 price objective (down from $106.00) on shares of Prudential Financial in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on Prudential Financial from $100.00 to $106.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 13th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Prudential Financial from $93.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 12th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and six have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus 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.