Yahoo Finance Institutional investors may overlook Prudential Financial, Inc.'s (NYSE:PRU) recent US$2.4b market cap drop as long-term gains remain positive
Key Insights
Institutions' substantial holdings in Prudential Financial implies that they have significant influence over the company's share price
The top 25 shareholders own 41% of the company
Every investor in Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU) should be aware of the most powerful shareholder groups. The group holding the most number of shares in the company, around 58% to be precise, is institutions. Put another way, the group faces the maximum upside potential (or downside risk).
Losing money on investments is something no shareholder enjoys, least of all institutional investors who saw their holdings value drop by 5.9% last week. Still, the 31% one-year gains may have helped mitigate their overall losses. But they would probably be wary of future losses.
Let's take a closer look to see what the different types of shareholders can tell us about Prudential Financial.
Check out our latest analysis for Prudential Financial
What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Prudential Financial?
Institutions typically measure themselves against a benchmark when reporting to their own investors, so they often become more enthusiastic about a stock once it's included in a major index. We would expect most companies to have some institutions on the register, especially if they are growing.
We can see that Prudential Financial does have institutional investors; and they hold a good portion of the company's stock. This can indicate that the company has a certain degree of credibility in the investment community. However, it is best to be wary of relying on the supposed validation that comes with institutional investors. They too, get it wrong sometimes. If multiple institutions change their view on a stock at the same time, you could see the share price drop fast. It's therefore worth looking at Prudential Financial's earnings history below. Of course, the future is what really matters.
Investors should note that institutions actually own more than half the company, so they can collectively wield significant power. Hedge funds don't have many shares in Prudential Financial. Our data shows that The Vanguard Group, Inc. is the largest shareholder with 12% of shares outstanding. Meanwhile, the second and third largest shareholders, hold 9.1% and 4.7%, of the shares outstanding, respectively.
Our studies suggest that the top 25 shareholders collectively control less than half of the company's shares, meaning that the company's shares are widely disseminated and there is no dominant shareholder.
While it makes sense to study institutional ownership data for a company, it also makes sense to study analyst sentiments to know which way the wind is blowing. There are a reasonable number of analysts covering the stock, so it might be useful to find out their aggregate view on the future.
Insider Ownership Of Prudential Financial
The definition of an insider can differ slightly between different countries, but members of the board of directors always count. The company management answer to the board and the latter should represent the interests of shareholders. Notably, sometimes top-level managers are on the board themselves.
Insider ownership is positive when it signals leadership are thinking like the true owners of the company. However, high insider ownership can also give immense power to a small group within the company. This can be negative in some circumstances.
Our data suggests that insiders own under 1% of Prudential Financial, Inc. in their own names. Being so large, we would not expect insiders to own a large proportion of the stock. Collectively, they own US$83m of stock. Arguably recent buying and selling is just as important to consider. You can click here to see if insiders have been buying or selling.
General Public Ownership
The general public, who are usually individual investors, hold a 41% stake in Prudential Financial. While this size of ownership may not be enough to sway a policy decision in their favour, they can still make a collective impact on company policies.
Next Steps:
I find it very interesting to look at who exactly owns a company. But to truly gain insight, we need to consider other information, too. Consider for instance, the ever-present spectre of investment risk. We've identified 1 warning sign with Prudential Financial , and understanding them should be part of your investment process.
If you would prefer discover what analysts are predicting in terms of future growth, do not miss this free report on analyst forecasts.
NB: Figures in this article are calculated using data from the last twelve months, which refer to the 12-month period ending on the last date of the month the financial statement is dated. This may not be consistent with full year annual report figures.
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This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.
