Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Makes New Investment in Prudential Financial, Inc. $PRU

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System purchased a new position in shares of Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU) during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 17,700 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,729,000.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Prudential Financial in the fourth quarter valued at about $140,530,000. Marshall Wace LLP grew its position in shares of Prudential Financial by 230.3% in the 4th quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,374,966 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $155,206,000 after purchasing an additional 958,672 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its stake in Prudential Financial by 183.3% during the 3rd quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 804,316 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $83,440,000 after purchasing an additional 520,425 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley increased its stake in Prudential Financial by 6.7% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 6,649,202 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $750,562,000 after purchasing an additional 420,081 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board lifted its stake in Prudential Financial by 209.2% in the second quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 520,025 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $55,871,000 after buying an additional 351,849 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 56.83% of the company’s stock.

Prudential Financial Stock Performance

Shares of PRU opened at $111.16 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $38.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.44, a PEG ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 0.85. Prudential Financial, Inc. has a 12 month low of $91.89 and a 12 month high of $119.76. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $102.99 and a 200 day simple moving average of $104.12. The company has a current ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 0.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58.

Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The financial services provider reported $3.61 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.09 by $0.52. Prudential Financial had a net margin of 5.83% and a return on equity of 16.33%. The firm had revenue of $15.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.10 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $3.29 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Prudential Financial, Inc. will post 13.81 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Prudential Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 11th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 26th were issued a dividend of $1.40 per share. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.0%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 26th. Prudential Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 57.61%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of Prudential Financial from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $124.00 to $98.00 in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Bank of America reduced their target price on shares of Prudential Financial from $112.00 to $104.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 14th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on Prudential Financial from $91.00 to $87.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Prudential Financial from $93.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 12th. Finally, UBS Group reduced their price objective on Prudential Financial from $105.00 to $98.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and five have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $101.92.

About Prudential Financial

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.