West Family Investments Inc. Makes New $514,000 Investment in Prudential Financial, Inc. $PRU

West Family Investments Inc. bought a new position in shares of Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU) in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor bought 4,760 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $514,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. NewEdge Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Prudential Financial during the second quarter valued at approximately $207,000. Essential Partners LLC raised its position in Prudential Financial by 3,269.2% during the 2nd quarter. Essential Partners LLC now owns 876 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $95,000 after purchasing an additional 850 shares in the last quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Prudential Financial in the 2nd quarter worth $9,466,000. Foster & Motley Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Prudential Financial during the second quarter valued at $4,323,000. Finally, First National Bank of Omaha bought a new stake in shares of Prudential Financial in the second quarter valued at about $10,231,000. 56.83% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Prudential Financial

In other Prudential Financial news, EVP Ann M. Kappler sold 7,652 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $125.01, for a total value of $956,576.52. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 14,407 shares in the company, valued at $1,801,019.07. The trade was a 34.69% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Insurance Co Of Ame Prudential sold 214,746 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.75, for a total value of $5,314,963.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 7,973,657 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $197,348,010.75. The trade was a 2.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 0.05% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on PRU shares. TD Cowen increased their price objective on shares of Prudential Financial from $102.00 to $114.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Prudential Financial from $129.00 to $131.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Prudential Financial from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, August 8th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Prudential Financial from $103.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded Prudential Financial from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, June 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and five have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $108.31.

Prudential Financial Trading Down 1.9%

Shares of PRU opened at $122.21 on Thursday. Prudential Financial, Inc. has a 52-week low of $91.89 and a 52-week high of $127.72. The stock has a market cap of $42.16 billion, a PE ratio of 11.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.84. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $116.12 and its two-hundred day moving average is $105.53. The company has a quick ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 0.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62.

Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The financial services provider reported $4.08 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.52 by $0.56. The business had revenue of $14.15 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 prior year, the business earned $3.58 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Prudential Financial, Inc. will post 14.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Prudential Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 25th will be given a dividend of $1.40 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 25th. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.6%. Prudential Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 50.72%.

Prudential Financial 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.