MBB Public Markets I LLC Makes New $319,000 Investment in Prudential Financial, Inc. $PRU

Key Points

• MBB Public Markets I LLC has invested approximately $319,000 in Prudential Financial, acquiring 2,852 shares of the financial services provider's stock during the first quarter.
• Prudential Financial recently reported $3.58 earnings per share for the quarter, exceeding analyst expectations by $0.36, although its revenue decreased by 2.5% compared to the previous year.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $1.35, with a dividend yield of 5.1%, and will be paid to investors of record on August 19th.

MBB Public Markets I LLC acquired a new position in shares of Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 2,852 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $319,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in Prudential Financial by 11,280.3% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 867,865 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $96,923,000 after buying an additional 860,239 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in shares of Prudential Financial in the 1st quarter valued at about $90,010,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its position in Prudential Financial by 19.2% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 4,206,453 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $469,777,000 after acquiring an additional 678,028 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its position in Prudential Financial by 11.5% during the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 3,410,363 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $404,230,000 after acquiring an additional 352,335 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH acquired a new position in Prudential Financial during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,796,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 56.83% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, major shareholder Insurance Co Of Ame Prudential acquired 1,675,978 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 16th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $28.64 per share, with a total value of $48,000,009.92. Following the acquisition, the insider owned 3,168,461 shares in the company, valued at approximately $90,744,723.04. The trade was a 112.29% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Ann M. Kappler sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $109.65, for a total value of $438,600.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 21,506 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,358,132.90. This represents a 15.68% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.25% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have issued reports on PRU. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Prudential Financial from $113.00 to $117.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, August 18th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on Prudential Financial from $116.00 to $113.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Prudential Financial from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 2nd. UBS Group decreased their price target on Prudential Financial from $122.00 to $110.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, May 27th. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on Prudential Financial from $119.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $122.08.

Prudential Financial Stock Down 0.0%

NYSE:PRU traded down $0.05 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $106.94. 1,628,323 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,397,531. The firm has a market cap of $37.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.71, a P/E/G ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 1.07. Prudential Financial, Inc. has a twelve month low of $90.38 and a twelve month high of $130.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 0.16 and a current ratio of 0.16. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $105.61 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $105.53.

Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The financial services provider reported $3.58 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.22 by $0.36. The firm had revenue of $13.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.47 billion. Prudential Financial had a return on equity of 15.80% and a net margin of 2.75%.Prudential Financial's quarterly revenue was down 2.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $3.39 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Prudential Financial, Inc. will post 14.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Prudential Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 11th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 19th were given a $1.35 dividend. This represents a $5.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 19th. Prudential Financial's dividend payout ratio is presently 119.73%.

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.