Orca Investment Management LLC Takes Position in Prudential Financial, Inc. $PRU

Key Points

• Orca Investment Management acquired 24,139 Prudential Financial shares worth approximately $2.6 million, making PRU about 1.9% of its portfolio. Institutional investors collectively own 56.83% of the company.
• Analyst sentiment remains cautious: PRU has a consensus rating of “Reduce”, with 1 Buy, 11 Hold, and 5 Sell ratings and an average price target of $107.62.
• Prudential reported quarterly EPS of $4.08, beating estimates of $3.52, and declared a quarterly dividend of $1.40, equivalent to a 4.5% annualized yield.

Orca Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU - Free Report) in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 24,139 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $2,605,000. Prudential Financial comprises about 1.9% of Orca Investment Management LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 18th largest holding.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in PRU. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 210,959 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Prudential Financial by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,533,806 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,078,904,000 after buying an additional 26,414 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley boosted its stake in Prudential Financial by 6.7% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 6,649,202 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $750,562,000 after buying an additional 420,081 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in Prudential Financial by 4.6% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,758,545 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $367,089,000 after acquiring an additional 166,641 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its stake in shares of Prudential Financial by 95.3% during the first 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. Institutional investors own 56.83% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PRU has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Prudential Financial from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, June 12th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Prudential Financial from $100.00 to $103.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Mizuho lifted their target price on shares of Prudential Financial from $101.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Prudential Financial from $117.00 to $129.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 21st. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut Prudential Financial from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and five have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Reduce" and an average price target of $107.62.

Prudential Financial Stock Performance

NYSE:PRU opened at $125.05 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a quick ratio of 0.16 and a current ratio of 0.16. Prudential Financial, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $91.89 and a fifty-two week high of $127.72. The firm has a market cap of $43.14 billion, a PE ratio of 11.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 0.84. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $114.94 and a 200-day moving average price of $105.23.

Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The financial services provider reported $4.08 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.52 by $0.56. The company had revenue of $14.15 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.36 billion. Prudential Financial had a net margin of 6.51% and a return on equity of 16.68%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $3.58 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Prudential Financial, Inc. will post 14.17 earnings per share for the current year.

Prudential Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 25th will be given a $1.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 25th. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.5%. Prudential Financial's payout ratio is presently 50.72%.

Insider Activity at Prudential Financial

In other news, major shareholder Insurance Co Of Ame Prudential sold 214,746 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.75, for a total transaction of $5,314,963.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 7,973,657 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $197,348,010.75. This represents a 2.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.05% of the company's stock.

Prudential Financial Company 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.

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