Gateway Investment Advisers LLC Increases Holdings in Prudential Financial, Inc. $PRU

Key Points

• Gateway Investment Advisers LLC increased its holdings in Prudential Financial by 19.0%, now owning 19,741 shares valued at approximately $2.12 million.
• Prudential Financial reported earnings of $3.58 per share for the quarter, surpassing analysts' expectations and achieving a revenue of $13.50 billion.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $1.35 per share, which translates to an annualized dividend of $5.40 and a yield of 5.2%.

Gateway Investment Advisers LLC grew its stake in Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU - Free Report) by 19.0% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 19,741 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 3,146 shares during the period. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC's holdings in Prudential Financial were worth $2,121,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in shares of Prudential Financial by 11,280.3% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 867,865 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $96,923,000 after acquiring an additional 860,239 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in Prudential Financial during the first quarter valued at approximately $90,010,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Prudential Financial by 19.2% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 4,206,453 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $469,777,000 after buying an additional 678,028 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its position in Prudential Financial by 11.5% in the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 3,410,363 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $404,230,000 after purchasing an additional 352,335 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH bought a new position in Prudential Financial during the fourth quarter valued at $25,796,000. 56.83% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Prudential Financial news, EVP Ann M. Kappler sold 4,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $109.65, for a total value of $438,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 21,506 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,358,132.90. This represents a 15.68% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.25% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on PRU shares. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Prudential Financial from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, August 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Prudential Financial from $126.00 to $136.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Barclays lifted their target price on Prudential Financial from $119.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Prudential Financial from $113.00 to $117.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, August 18th. Finally, Piper Sandler decreased their price objective on Prudential Financial from $109.00 to $108.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $122.08.

Prudential Financial Price Performance

Shares of NYSE PRU traded down $0.30 during trading on Friday, hitting $103.57. 3,063,655 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,532,334. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $105.30 and its 200 day moving average price is $105.19. Prudential Financial, Inc. has a 1 year low of $90.38 and a 1 year high of $130.55. The company has a market cap of $36.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.96, a PEG ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 0.16 and a quick ratio of 0.16.

Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The financial services provider reported $3.58 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.22 by $0.36. Prudential Financial had a return on equity of 15.80% and a net margin of 2.75%.The firm had revenue of $13.50 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $13.47 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $3.39 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was down 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Prudential Financial, Inc. will post 14.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Prudential Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 11th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 19th were paid a dividend of $1.35 per share. This represents a $5.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.2%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 19th. Prudential Financial's payout ratio is currently 119.73%.

About Prudential Financial

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.