Mount Lucas Management LP Purchases 157 Shares of Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU)

Mount Lucas Management LP increased its position in Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU) by 3.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 4,596 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 157 shares during the quarter. Mount Lucas Management LP’s holdings in Prudential Financial were worth $557,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Creekmur Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Prudential Financial by 78.8% during the first quarter. Creekmur Asset Management LLC now owns 245 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 108 shares during the period. Lynx Investment Advisory bought a new position in Prudential Financial in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $29,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new position in Prudential Financial in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC lifted its position in shares of Prudential Financial by 1,312.4% during the second quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 26,934 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 25,027 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Crewe Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Prudential Financial in the first quarter worth $33,000. 56.83% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on Prudential Financial from $123.00 to $122.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 19th. Evercore ISI raised shares of Prudential Financial from an “underperform” rating to an “inline” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $117.00 to $140.00 in a report on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Prudential Financial from $116.00 to $117.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Prudential Financial from $104.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on shares of Prudential Financial from $118.00 to $119.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Prudential Financial has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $125.69.

Prudential Financial Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE PRU opened at $127.41 on Monday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $122.20 and its 200 day moving average is $119.33. The stock has a market cap of $45.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.33, a P/E/G ratio of 0.91 and a beta of 1.29. Prudential Financial, Inc. has a 1-year low of $93.32 and a 1-year high of $129.13. The company has a current ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 0.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60.

Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $3.48 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.47 by $0.01. Prudential Financial had a net margin of 6.03% and a return on equity of 15.30%. The firm had revenue of $19.48 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.57 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $3.44 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Prudential Financial, Inc. will post 13.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Prudential Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 19th will be paid a dividend of $1.30 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 19th. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.08%. Prudential Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 46.22%.

Insider Transactions at Prudential Financial

In other news, major shareholder Insurance Co Of Ame Prudential bought 261,059 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 8th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $27.58 per share, with a total value of $7,200,007.22. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider now directly owns 4,208,549 shares in the company, valued at $116,071,781.42. This represents a 6.61 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Ann M. Kappler sold 2,839 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $113.43, for a total transaction of $322,027.77. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 14,535 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,648,705.05. The trade was a 16.34 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Prudential Financial Company 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.