Mufg Securities Americas Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 5,256 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $623,000.
A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of PRU. Avanza Fonder AB acquired a new stake in shares of Prudential Financial during the fourth quarter worth $3,423,000. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC lifted its holdings in Prudential Financial by 56.1% during the fourth quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC now owns 21,998 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,607,000 after acquiring an additional 7,907 shares during the period. Burney Co. boosted its stake in Prudential Financial by 7.4% in the fourth quarter. Burney Co. now owns 32,769 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $3,884,000 after acquiring an additional 2,248 shares during the last quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Prudential Financial by 136.4% during the 4th quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 6,627 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $785,000 after buying an additional 3,824 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Orca Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Prudential Financial in the fourth quarter worth about $3,424,000. 56.83% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.
Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth
A number of research firms have commented on PRU. BMO Capital Markets began coverage on shares of Prudential Financial in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. They issued an "underperform" rating and a $101.00 price target for the company. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Prudential Financial from $108.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their target price on shares of Prudential Financial from $120.00 to $117.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Prudential Financial from $108.00 to $117.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Prudential Financial from $134.00 to $106.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $121.08.
Read Our Latest Research Report on PRU
Prudential Financial Stock Performance
Shares of NYSE:PRU traded up $0.67 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $108.00. The stock had a trading volume of 1,515,161 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,619,236. The company has a current ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 0.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $104.71 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $113.92. Prudential Financial, Inc. has a 1 year low of $90.38 and a 1 year high of $130.55. The company has a market capitalization of $38.23 billion, a PE ratio of 14.46, a P/E/G ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 1.07.
Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The financial services provider reported $3.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.18 by $0.11. Prudential Financial had a return on equity of 15.86% and a net margin of 4.01%. The firm had revenue of $13.61 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.76 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $3.12 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 38.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Prudential Financial, Inc. will post 14.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Prudential Financial Dividend Announcement
The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 20th will be given a dividend of $1.35 per share. This represents a $5.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.00%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 20th. Prudential Financial's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 85.58%.
Insider Buying and Selling
In other news, EVP Andrew F. Sullivan sold 6,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.98, for a total transaction of $635,880.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 27,072 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,869,090.56. The trade was a 18.14% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Insurance Co Of Ame Prudential bought 52,595 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 25th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $28.52 per share, with a total value of $1,500,009.40. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider now owns 139,987 shares in the company, valued at $3,992,429.24. This represents a 60.18% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 0.25% of the company's stock.
About Prudential Financial
(
Free Report)
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.
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