Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC Takes $1.42 Million Position in Prudential Financial, Inc. $PRU

Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC bought a new stake in shares of Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 13,110 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,415,000.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of PRU. State Street Corp raised its stake in 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 worth $1,945,381,000 after buying an additional 210,959 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Prudential Financial by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,533,806 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,078,904,000 after acquiring an additional 26,414 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley increased its holdings in shares of Prudential Financial by 6.7% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 6,649,202 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $750,562,000 after acquiring an additional 420,081 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in shares of 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 worth $367,089,000 after purchasing an additional 166,641 shares during the period. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its holdings in shares of Prudential Financial by 95.3% in the 1st quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 2,556,748 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $249,769,000 after purchasing an additional 1,247,371 shares in the last quarter. 56.83% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Prudential Financial Price Performance

PRU opened at $125.05 on Monday. Prudential Financial, Inc. has a 1 year low of $91.89 and a 1 year high of $127.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 0.16 and a quick ratio of 0.16. The company has a market capitalization of $43.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.33, a P/E/G ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 0.84. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $114.94 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $105.21.

Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The financial services provider reported $4.08 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.52 by $0.56. Prudential Financial had a net margin of 6.51% and a return on equity of 16.68%. The company had revenue of $14.15 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.36 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $3.58 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Prudential Financial, Inc. will post 14.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Prudential Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 25th will be given a dividend of $1.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 25th. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.5%. Prudential Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 50.72%.

Insider Buying and Selling 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 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 directly owned 7,973,657 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $197,348,010.75. This represents a 2.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.05% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PRU has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Prudential Financial from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on shares of Prudential Financial from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, July 10th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “underweight” rating and set a $92.00 target price (down from $106.00) on shares of Prudential Financial in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Argus cut shares of Prudential Financial from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 9th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on Prudential Financial from $90.00 to $92.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and five have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $107.62.

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.