Jones Financial Companies Lllp Boosts Stock Position in Prudential Financial, Inc. $PRU

Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its stake in shares of Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU) by 21.3% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 58,436 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 10,257 shares during the period. Jones Financial Companies Lllp’s holdings in Prudential Financial were worth $6,325,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Jessup Wealth Management Inc purchased a new position in Prudential Financial in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Garton & Associates Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Prudential Financial during the 4th quarter worth $26,000. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. raised its position in Prudential Financial by 93.1% during the 1st quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 278 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 134 shares during the last quarter. Coston McIsaac & Partners lifted its stake in shares of Prudential Financial by 93.4% in the 4th quarter. Coston McIsaac & Partners now owns 265 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 128 shares during the period. Finally, Basepoint Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Prudential Financial in the fourth quarter valued at about $30,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 56.83% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on PRU shares. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on shares of Prudential Financial from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Zacks Research upgraded Prudential Financial from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, June 12th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Prudential Financial from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, August 8th. Argus cut shares of Prudential Financial from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 9th. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on shares of Prudential Financial from $90.00 to $92.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and five have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $109.31.

Prudential Financial Trading Up 1.3%

Shares of Prudential Financial stock opened at $122.67 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 0.16 and a quick ratio of 0.16. Prudential Financial, Inc. has a 1 year low of $91.89 and a 1 year high of $127.72. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $116.93 and a 200 day moving average price of $105.78. The company has a market capitalization of $42.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.11, a P/E/G ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 0.84.

Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 4th. The financial services provider reported $4.08 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.52 by $0.56. Prudential Financial had a return on equity of 16.68% and a net margin of 6.51%.The business had revenue of $14.15 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.36 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $3.58 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Prudential Financial, Inc. will post 14.24 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Prudential Financial Announces Dividend

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 paid a $1.40 dividend. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 25th. Prudential Financial’s payout ratio is presently 50.72%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, major shareholder Insurance Co Of Ame Prudential sold 214,746 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.75, for a total value of $5,314,963.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 7,973,657 shares in the company, valued at approximately $197,348,010.75. This represents a 2.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Ann M. Kappler sold 7,652 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $125.01, for a total transaction of $956,576.52. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 14,407 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,801,019.07. This represents a 34.69% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.05% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.