Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Has $2.26 Million Stock Position in Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU)

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System reduced its position in Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU) by 5.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 19,100 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,000 shares during the period. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System’s holdings in Prudential Financial were worth $2,264,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of PRU. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its position in Prudential Financial by 4,130.8% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,298,257 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $157,219,000 after purchasing an additional 1,267,571 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its position in Prudential Financial by 176.8% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,041,420 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $123,804,000 after purchasing an additional 665,180 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its position in Prudential Financial by 31.3% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,444,288 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $174,903,000 after purchasing an additional 344,254 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Prudential Financial by 4.1% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,662,679 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,047,872,000 after acquiring an additional 341,787 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital Advisors Inc. OK bought a new stake in shares of Prudential Financial during the 3rd quarter worth about $30,226,000. 56.83% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PRU has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on Prudential Financial in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. They set an “underperform” rating and a $101.00 price target for the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their target price on Prudential Financial from $129.00 to $125.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Evercore ISI upgraded Prudential Financial from an “underperform” rating to an “inline” rating and increased their target price for the company from $117.00 to $140.00 in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on Prudential Financial from $149.00 to $152.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on Prudential Financial from $128.00 to $134.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $125.46.

Prudential Financial Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of PRU opened at $111.54 on Friday. Prudential Financial, Inc. has a 1 year low of $104.44 and a 1 year high of $130.55. The company has a current ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 0.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $118.17 and a 200-day simple moving average of $119.95. The stock has a market cap of $39.71 billion, a PE ratio of 14.93, a PEG ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 1.31.

Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The financial services provider reported $2.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.36 by ($0.40). Prudential Financial had a return on equity of 15.86% and a net margin of 4.01%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Prudential Financial, Inc. will post 14.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Prudential Financial Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be issued a dividend of $1.35 per share. This represents a $5.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.84%. This is a boost from Prudential Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.30. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 18th. Prudential Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 69.61%.

Insider Activity at Prudential Financial

In other Prudential Financial news, major shareholder Insurance Co Of Ame Prudential purchased 537,249 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 25th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $27.92 per share, with a total value of $14,999,992.08. Following the acquisition, the insider now directly owns 4,780,293 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $133,465,780.56. This trade represents a 12.66 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Prudential Financial Profile

Prudential Financial, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides insurance, investment management, and other financial products and services in the United States and internationally. It operates through PGIM, Retirement Strategies, Group Insurance, Individual Life, and International Businesses segments.