Measured Risk Portfolios Inc. Makes New $2.75 Million Investment in Prudential Financial, Inc. $PRU

Measured Risk Portfolios Inc. bought a new position in Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 28,165 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $2,751,000. Prudential Financial comprises 3.0% of Measured Risk Portfolios Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 4th largest holding.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Quantinno Capital Management LP boosted its position in Prudential Financial by 49.6% in the first quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 386,596 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $37,767,000 after purchasing an additional 128,140 shares during the last quarter. SummitTX Capital L.P. increased its position in shares of Prudential Financial by 0.3% during the 1st quarter. SummitTX Capital L.P. now owns 36,822 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,597,000 after purchasing an additional 118 shares during the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Prudential Financial by 66.0% during the 1st quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 63,240 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $6,178,000 after purchasing an additional 25,140 shares during the period. Gateway Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Prudential Financial in the 1st quarter worth about $331,000. Finally, Weiss Asset Management LP purchased a new position in shares of Prudential Financial in the 1st quarter worth about $222,000. 56.83% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have commented on PRU shares. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on shares of Prudential Financial from $102.00 to $114.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 22nd. UBS Group reduced their target price on shares of Prudential Financial from $105.00 to $98.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. Bank of America decreased their price target 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 dropped their price objective on Prudential Financial from $91.00 to $87.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. Finally, Piper Sandler increased their price objective on Prudential Financial from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and five have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $105.46.

Prudential Financial Trading Up 1.6%

Shares of PRU stock opened at $121.83 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $42.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.53, a PEG ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 0.85. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $109.28 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $104.30. Prudential Financial, Inc. has a 1 year low of $91.89 and a 1 year high of $122.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 0.16 and a quick ratio of 0.16.

Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 5th. The financial services provider reported $3.61 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.09 by $0.52. Prudential Financial had a return on equity of 16.33% and a net margin of 5.83%.The company 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 company posted $3.29 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Prudential Financial, Inc. will post 13.75 earnings per share for the current year.

Prudential Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 11th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 26th were paid a $1.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 26th. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.6%. Prudential Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 57.61%.

Prudential Financial Company 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.