Royal London Asset Management Ltd. Buys 14,849 Shares of Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU)

Royal London Asset Management Ltd. raised its stake in Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU) by 10.3% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 159,321 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 14,849 shares during the quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd.’s holdings in Prudential Financial were worth $18,671,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Annex Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in Prudential Financial by 3.4% during the 2nd quarter. Annex Advisory Services LLC now owns 2,467 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $289,000 after acquiring an additional 81 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. grew its holdings in shares of Prudential Financial by 1.1% in the 2nd quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 8,117 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $951,000 after buying an additional 87 shares during the period. Peoples Bank OH raised its stake in Prudential Financial by 2.3% during the 1st quarter. Peoples Bank OH now owns 4,046 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $475,000 after buying an additional 90 shares during the period. Quotient Wealth Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Prudential Financial by 3.9% during the second quarter. Quotient Wealth Partners LLC now owns 2,424 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $284,000 after acquiring an additional 92 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Prudential Financial by 1.3% in the first quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 7,449 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $875,000 after acquiring an additional 94 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 56.83% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Prudential Financial

In other news, EVP Ann M. Kappler sold 2,839 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $113.43, for a total value of $322,027.77. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 14,535 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,648,705.05. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, major shareholder Insurance Co Of Ame Prudential acquired 652,884 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 20th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $27.57 per share, with a total value of $18,000,011.88. Following the acquisition, the insider now directly owns 3,883,390 shares in the company, valued at approximately $107,065,062.30. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Ann M. Kappler sold 2,839 shares of Prudential Financial stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $113.43, for a total value of $322,027.77. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 14,535 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,648,705.05. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Prudential Financial Price Performance

Shares of PRU opened at $114.72 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $41.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.51, a PEG ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a current ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 0.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $117.95 and its 200 day simple moving average is $115.82. Prudential Financial, Inc. has a 1-year low of $87.95 and a 1-year high of $128.52.

Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The financial services provider reported $3.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.43 by ($0.04). Prudential Financial had a net margin of 4.86% and a return on equity of 16.00%. The firm had revenue of $13.84 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $13.78 billion. On average, research analysts forecast that Prudential Financial, Inc. will post 13.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Prudential Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 12th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 20th will be paid a $1.30 dividend. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.53%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 20th. Prudential Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 88.44%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently issued reports on PRU. Barclays assumed coverage on Prudential Financial in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $118.00 price objective for the company. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Prudential Financial from $104.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Prudential Financial from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $113.00 target price for the company in a report on Monday, August 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Prudential Financial from $118.00 to $128.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on Prudential Financial from $123.00 to $122.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 19th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Prudential Financial currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $120.83.

Prudential Financial Profile

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.