Prudential Financial, Inc. $PRU Holdings Lifted by Oppenheimer & Co. Inc.

Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. grew its position in Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU) by 104.7% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 13,420 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,865 shares during the quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc.’s holdings in Prudential Financial were worth $1,524,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in Prudential Financial during the second quarter worth approximately $3,507,481,000. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Prudential Financial by 1.2% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 17,164,760 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,852,593,000 after buying an additional 209,179 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in shares of Prudential Financial by 4.6% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,758,545 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $367,089,000 after buying an additional 166,641 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its stake in Prudential Financial by 95.3% during the 1st quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 2,556,748 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $249,769,000 after acquiring an additional 1,247,371 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new stake in Prudential Financial during the 2nd quarter worth $209,055,000. 56.83% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Prudential Financial

In related news, EVP Ann Kappler sold 7,652 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $125.01, for a total value of $956,576.52. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 14,407 shares in the company, valued at $1,801,019.07. This represents a 34.69% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.05% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Prudential Financial from $104.00 to $103.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 28th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price target on Prudential Financial from $123.00 to $119.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 16th. Wall Street Zen cut Prudential Financial from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, September 28th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their target price on shares of Prudential Financial from $105.00 to $102.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 23rd. Finally, Barclays cut their target price on shares of Prudential Financial from $96.00 to $94.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, October 19th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and six have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Prudential Financial has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $111.27.

Prudential Financial Stock Performance

Shares of PRU stock opened at $116.35 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 0.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62. Prudential Financial, Inc. has a 12-month low of $91.89 and a 12-month high of $127.72. The company has a market cap of $40.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 0.85. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $116.96 and a 200-day simple moving average of $108.79.

Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 4th. The financial services provider reported $4.08 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $14.15 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.36 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $3.58 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Prudential Financial, Inc. will post 13.51 EPS for the current year.

Prudential Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 25th were paid a dividend of $1.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 25th. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.8%. Prudential Financial’s payout ratio is 50.72%.

About Prudential Financial

Prudential Financial, Inc (NYSE: PRU) is a global financial services company that provides insurance, retirement, investment management and related financial products. Founded in Newark, New Jersey, in 1875, the company serves individuals, businesses and institutional investors through a range of businesses and distribution channels.

In the United States, Prudential offers life insurance, annuities, retirement plans and employee benefits, including group life, disability and dental insurance.