PRUDENTIAL EQUITY FUND
NSAR-B/A, 1997-03-04
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<PAGE>      PAGE  1
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SIGNATURE   EUGENE S. STARK                              
TITLE       TREASURER           
 


<TABLE> <S> <C>











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<NAME> PRUDENTIAL EQUITY FUND
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<TABLE> <S> <C>











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<TABLE> <S> <C>











<ARTICLE> 6
<CIK> 0000356683
<NAME> PRUDENTIAL EQUITY FUND
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<TOTAL-LIABILITIES>                         38,192,936
<SENIOR-EQUITY>                                      0
<PAID-IN-CAPITAL-COMMON>                 3,248,332,481
<SHARES-COMMON-STOCK>                      246,249,802
<SHARES-COMMON-PRIOR>                      202,245,835
<ACCUMULATED-NII-CURRENT>                            0
<OVERDISTRIBUTION-NII>                      (2,141,779)
<ACCUMULATED-NET-GAINS>                     30,662,918
<OVERDISTRIBUTION-GAINS>                             0
<ACCUM-APPREC-OR-DEPREC>                   969,320,541
<NET-ASSETS>                             4,246,174,161
<DIVIDEND-INCOME>                           62,440,031
<INTEREST-INCOME>                           51,048,355
<OTHER-INCOME>                                       0
<EXPENSES-NET>                              51,902,477
<NET-INVESTMENT-INCOME>                     61,585,909
<REALIZED-GAINS-CURRENT>                   314,987,723
<APPREC-INCREASE-CURRENT>                  240,997,587
<NET-CHANGE-FROM-OPS>                      617,571,219
<EQUALIZATION>                                       0
<DISTRIBUTIONS-OF-INCOME>                  (60,431,165)
<DISTRIBUTIONS-OF-GAINS>                  (385,722,881)
<DISTRIBUTIONS-OTHER>                       (2,141,779)
<NUMBER-OF-SHARES-SOLD>                  3,428,831,074
<NUMBER-OF-SHARES-REDEEMED>             (3,103,898,045)
<SHARES-REINVESTED>                        429,066,548
<NET-CHANGE-IN-ASSETS>                     923,274,971
<ACCUMULATED-NII-PRIOR>                     42,159,075
<ACCUMULATED-GAINS-PRIOR>                  101,398,076
<OVERDISTRIB-NII-PRIOR>                              0
<OVERDIST-NET-GAINS-PRIOR>                           0
<GROSS-ADVISORY-FEES>                       17,435,738
<INTEREST-EXPENSE>                                   0
<GROSS-EXPENSE>                             51,902,477
<AVERAGE-NET-ASSETS>                       124,631,000
<PER-SHARE-NAV-BEGIN>                               17
<PER-SHARE-NII>                                      0
<PER-SHARE-GAIN-APPREC>                              2
<PER-SHARE-DIVIDEND>                                (0)
<PER-SHARE-DISTRIBUTIONS>                           (2)
<RETURNS-OF-CAPITAL>                                (0)
<PER-SHARE-NAV-END>                                 17
<EXPENSE-RATIO>                                      1
<AVG-DEBT-OUTSTANDING>                               0
<AVG-DEBT-PER-SHARE>                                 0
        


</TABLE>

For the annual period ended (a) 12/31/96
File number (c) 811-5510


                          SUB-ITEM 77C
      Submission of Matters to a Vote of Security Holders

     A  special Meeting of Shareholders was called
for   October  30,  1996.   At  such  meeting  the
shareholders approved the following proposals:

     A)    Approval that Edward D. Beach,  Delayne
     Dedrick  Gold,  Robert F.  Gunia,  Donald  D.
     Lennox,  Douglas H. McCorkindale,  Mendel  A.
     Melzer,  Thomas T. Mooney, Stephen  P.  Munn,
     Richard A. Redeker, Robin B. Smith, Louis  A.
     Weil,  III  and  Clay T. Whitehead  are  duly
     elected  to  serve as Directors of  the  Fund
     until  the earlier to occur of (i)  the  next
     meeting  of  Shareholders at which  Directors
     are  elected  and until his or her  successor
     shall  have been duly elected and shall  have
     qualified  or  (ii)  their  terms  expire  in
     accordance with the Fund's retirement policy.
                         
                         Affirmative
                                 Votes        Cast
Votes Withheld
Edward    D.    Beach                  108,904,537
3,927,678
Delayne    Dedrick    Gold             109,029,733
3,802,482
Robert    F.    Gunia                  109,109,144
3,723,071
Donald    D.    Lennox                 108,877,212
3,955,003
Douglas    H.     McCorkindale         109,061,163
3,771,052
Mendel    A.    Melzer                 109,027,954
3,804,261
Thomas    T.    Mooney                 109,073,245
3,758,970
Stephen    P.    Munn                  109,108,518
3,723,697
Richard    A.    Redeker               109,092,459
3,739,756
Robin      B.      Smith               109,057,759
3,774,456
Louis    A.   Weil,   III              109,066,470
3,765,745
Clay    T.    Whitehead                109,085,038
3,747,177

          
     B)       Approval of the proposed elimination
     of    the   Fund's   fundamental   investment
     restriction   relating   to   investment   in
     securities   of   unseasoned   issuers,    as
     described in such Fund's proxy statement.

          For                              Against
Abstain
          77,622,851                     6,520,151
5,480,579
          




     C)       Approval of the proposed increase in
     the  percentage of portfolio securities  that
     the  Fund  may  lend, as  described  in  such
     Fund's proxy statement.

          For                              Against
Abstain
          77,880,460                     6,171,478
5,571,643
     
     D)      Approval of the selection of Deloitte
     &  Touche LLP as independent accountants  for
     the  Fund conditioned upon the right by  vote
     of  a  majority  of  such Fund's  outstanding
     voting  shares at any meeting called for  the
     purpose    to   terminate   such   employment
     forthwith without penalties.

          For                              Against
Abstain
          107,490,494                    1,055,270
4,286,451
          
     E)       In  their  discretion on  any  other
     business  which may properly come before  the
     meeting or any adjournment thereof.



For the fiscal year ended (a) 12/31/96
File number (c)811-5510

                          SUB-ITEM 77 D
                                
                                
         Policies with Respect to Securities Investments
                                
     A)     On  October 30, 1996, the Shareholders
approved   an   investment   policy   modification
eliminating  the  Fund's  fundamental   investment
restriction  relating to investment in  securities
of  unseasoned issuers, as described in the Fund's
proxy statement.

     B)     On  October 30, 1996, The Shareholders
approved   an   investment   policy   modification
increasing  the percentage of portfolio securities
that  the  Fund  may  lend from  10%  to  30%,  as
described in the Fund's proxy statement.




























n-sar/pif2-97/77d


For the fiscal year ended December 31, 1996
File number (c) 811-3326

                         SUB-ITEM 77-0

                           EXHIBITS

          Transactions Effected Pursuant  to  Rule
10f-3

I.   Prudential Equity Fund

1.   Name of Issuer
      Associates First Capital

2.   Date of Purchase
       5/7/96

3.   Number of Securities Purchased
       192,400

4.   Dollar Amount of Purchase
       $5,579,600

5.   Price Per Unit
       $29.00

6.   Name(s) of Underwriter(s) or Dealer(s)
     From whom Purchased
       Goldman Sachs

7.   Other members of the Underwriting Syndicate
       See Exhibit A




EXHIBIT A

UNDERWRITER

Goldman Sachs & Co.
CS First Boston Corporation
Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Incorporated
J.P. Morgan Securities Inc.
Bear, Stearns & Co. Inc.
Lehman Brothers Inc.
Saloman Brothers Inc.
Alex Brown & Sons Incorporated
Chase Securities Inc.
Citicorp Securities, Inc.
Dean Witter Reynolds Inc.
Deutsche Morgan Grenfell/C.J. Lawrence Inc.
Donaldson,    Lufkin    &   Jenrette    Securities
Corporation
A.G. Edwards & Sons, Inc.
EVEREN Securities, Inc.
Montgomery Securities
Morgan Stanley & Co. Incorporated
Oppenheimer & Co., Inc.
PaineWebber Incorporated
Prudential Securities Incorporated
Smith Barney Inc.
Wasserstein Perella Securities, Inc.
Advest, Inc.
Sanford C. Bernstein & Co., Inc.
William Blair & Company, L.L.C.
J.C. Bradford Co.
Dain Bosworth Incorporated
Furman Selz LLC
Edward D. Jones & Co.
Legg Mason Wood Walker Incorporated
McDonald & Company Securities, Inc.
Piper Jaffray Inc.
Rauscher Pierce Refsnes, Inc.
The Robinson-Humphrey Company, Inc.
Stephens Inc.
Sutro & Co. Incorporated
Wheat, First Securities, Inc.
First of Michigan Corporation
First Southwest Company
Gruntal & Co., Incorporated
Guzman & Company
NatCity Investments, Inc.
Samuel A. Ramirez & Co., Inc.
Roney & Co., LLC
Scott & Stringfellow, Inc.
Muriel Siebert & Co., Inc.
Stifel, Nicolaus & Company, Incorporated
Utendahl Capital Partners, L.P.
The Williams Capital Group, L.P.







February 27, 1997

To the Board of Directors of
Prudential Equity Fund, Inc.


In planning and performing our audit of the
financial statements of Prudential Equity Fund,
Inc. (the "Fund") for the year ended December 31,
1996, we considered its internal control
structure, including procedures for safeguarding
securities, in order to determine our auditing
procedures for the purposes of expressing our
opinion on the financial statements and to comply
with the requirements of Form N-SAR, and not to
provide assurance on the internal control
structure.

The management of the Fund is responsible for
establishing and maintaining an internal control
structure.  In fulfilling this responsibility,
estimates and judgments by management are required
to assess the expected benefits and related costs
of internal control structure policies and
procedures.  Two of the objectives of an internal
control structure are to provide management with
reasonable, but not absolute, assurance that
assets are appropriately safeguarded against loss
from unauthorized use or disposition and that
transactions are executed in accordance with
management's authorization and recorded properly
to permit preparation of financial statements in
conformity with generally accepted accounting
principles.

Because of inherent limitations in any internal
control structure, errors or irregularities may
occur and may not be detected.  Also, projection
of any evaluation of the structure to future
periods is subject to the risk that it may become
inadequate because of changes in conditions or
that the effectiveness of the design and operation
may deteriorate.

Our consideration of the internal control
structure would not necessarily disclose all
matters in the internal control structure that
might be material weaknesses under standards
established by the American Institute of Certified
Public Accountants.  A material weakness is a
condition in which the design or operation of the
specific internal control structure elements does
not reduce to a relatively low level the risk that
errors or irregularities in amounts that would be
material in relation to the financial statements
being audited may occur and not be detected within
a timely period by employees in the normal course
of performing their assigned functions.  However,
we noted no matters involving the internal control
structure, including procedures for safeguarding
securities, that we consider to be material
weaknesses as defined above as of December 31,
1996.

This report is intended solely for the information
and use of management and the Securities and
Exchange Commission.



PRICE WATERHOUSE LLP







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