West Family Investments Inc. Makes New $514,000 Investment in Prudential Financial, Inc. $PRU

West Family Investments Inc. acquired a new stake in Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 4,760 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $514,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. California State Teachers Retirement System increased its holdings in Prudential Financial by 10,014.4% during the second quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 63,173,911 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $6,818,360,000 after buying an additional 62,549,318 shares during the period. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in Prudential Financial during the second quarter worth $3,507,481,000. State Street Corp boosted its position in Prudential Financial by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 17,234,061 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,945,381,000 after acquiring an additional 210,959 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Prudential Financial by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,533,806 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,078,904,000 after acquiring an additional 26,414 shares during the period. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased its holdings in shares of Prudential Financial by 6.7% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 6,649,202 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $750,562,000 after acquiring an additional 420,081 shares during the period. 56.83% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Prudential Financial Trading Down 2.1%

NYSE PRU opened at $119.46 on Wednesday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $119.66 and a 200 day moving average of $107.08. The company has a market capitalization of $41.21 billion, a PE ratio of 10.82, a P/E/G ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 0.83. 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.

Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 4th. The financial services provider reported $4.08 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.52 by $0.56. Prudential Financial had a net margin of 6.51% and a return on equity of 16.68%. The company had revenue of $14.15 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.36 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $3.58 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Prudential Financial, Inc. will post 14.51 earnings per share for the current year.

Prudential Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 25th will be paid a dividend of $1.40 per share. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 25th. Prudential Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 50.72%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on Prudential Financial from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, July 10th. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on shares of Prudential Financial from $110.00 to $128.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 11th. Argus lowered shares of Prudential Financial from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 9th. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on shares of Prudential Financial from $102.00 to $114.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Prudential Financial from $129.00 to $131.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, August 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and five have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Prudential Financial presently has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $109.31.

Insider Buying and Selling at Prudential Financial

In related news, major shareholder Insurance Co Of Ame Prudential sold 214,746 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.75, for a total value 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 approximately $197,348,010.75. The trade was a 2.62% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Ann Kappler sold 7,652 shares of Prudential Financial 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 14,407 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,801,019.07. This trade 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 currently owned by insiders.

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.