Wealthfront Advisers LLC Raises Position in Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU)

Wealthfront Advisers LLC grew its holdings in Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU - Free Report) by 12.4% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 93,009 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 10,248 shares during the quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC's holdings in Prudential Financial were worth $10,387,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. North Capital Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Prudential Financial in the first quarter valued at about $28,000. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Prudential Financial in the 1st quarter valued at about $30,000. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Prudential Financial in the fourth quarter worth approximately $35,000. TCTC Holdings LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Prudential Financial during the 4th quarter valued at $37,000. Finally, Park Place Capital Corp lifted its stake in shares of Prudential Financial by 1,841.2% in the 1st quarter. Park Place Capital Corp now owns 330 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 313 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 56.83% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, major shareholder Insurance Co Of Ame Prudential bought 1,675,978 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 16th. The shares were bought at an average price of $28.64 per share, for a total transaction of $48,000,009.92. Following the purchase, the insider owned 3,168,461 shares in the company, valued at $90,744,723.04. This represents a 112.29% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.25% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on PRU shares. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of Prudential Financial from $117.00 to $113.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Prudential Financial from $126.00 to $136.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Prudential Financial from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Saturday, July 5th. UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of Prudential Financial from $122.00 to $110.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, May 27th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price objective on Prudential Financial from $120.00 to $117.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Prudential Financial currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $121.62.

Prudential Financial Stock Up 0.9%

NYSE PRU traded up $0.93 on Thursday, hitting $103.13. 652,395 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,660,768. The company has a current ratio of 0.17, a quick ratio of 0.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. Prudential Financial, Inc. has a 12 month low of $90.38 and a 12 month high of $130.55. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $105.33 and a 200-day moving average of $108.61. The company has a market cap of $36.51 billion, a PE ratio of 16.32, a PEG ratio of 0.99 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 for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.18 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $13.61 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.76 billion. Prudential Financial had a return on equity of 15.84% and a net margin of 3.84%. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 38.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $3.12 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Prudential Financial, Inc. will post 14.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Prudential Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 12th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 20th were paid a $1.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 20th. This represents a $5.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.24%. Prudential Financial's payout ratio is 85.58%.

Prudential Financial Company Profile

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.