Voleon Capital Management LP Purchases Shares of 5,680 Prudential Financial, Inc. $PRU

Key Points

• Voleon Capital Management LP invested approximately $634,000 in Prudential Financial, acquiring 5,680 shares in the company's stock during the first quarter.
• Prudential Financial recently reported $3.58 earnings per share for the quarter, exceeding estimates, and declared a $1.35 quarterly dividend with a dividend yield of 5.1%.
• Institutional investors now own 56.83% of Prudential Financial stock, marking a trend of increasing institutional investment in the company.

Voleon Capital Management LP bought a new stake in Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 5,680 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $634,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in PRU. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in shares of Prudential Financial by 11,280.3% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 867,865 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $96,923,000 after purchasing an additional 860,239 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in shares of Prudential Financial during the 1st quarter valued at $90,010,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of 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 valued at $469,777,000 after purchasing an additional 678,028 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its stake in shares of 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 valued at $404,230,000 after purchasing an additional 352,335 shares during the period. Finally, Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH bought a new stake in shares of Prudential Financial during the 4th quarter valued at $25,796,000. 56.83% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Insider Activity

In related news, major shareholder Insurance Co Of Ame Prudential bought 1,675,978 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 16th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $28.64 per share, for a total transaction of $48,000,009.92. Following the acquisition, the insider directly owned 3,168,461 shares of the company's stock, valued at $90,744,723.04. The trade was a 112.29% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 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 sale, the executive vice president owned 21,506 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,358,132.90. This represents a 15.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.25% of the company's stock.

Prudential Financial Price Performance

Shares of PRU traded down $0.05 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $106.94. The stock had a trading volume of 1,628,323 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,397,531. The company's 50-day moving average is $105.61 and its 200 day moving average is $105.53. Prudential Financial, Inc. has a 12-month low of $90.38 and a 12-month high of $130.55. The company has a current ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 0.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60. The company has a market capitalization of $37.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 1.07.

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

Prudential Financial Dividend Announcement

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

About Prudential Financial

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.