St. Johns Investment Management Company LLC Boosts Stock Position in Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU)

St. Johns Investment Management Company LLC grew its position in shares of Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU) by 5.7% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 7,083 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 385 shares during the quarter. St. Johns Investment Management Company LLC’s holdings in Prudential Financial were worth $832,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in PRU. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Prudential Financial by 13.9% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 42,292,853 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,386,192,000 after purchasing an additional 5,154,865 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Prudential Financial by 9,281.4% during the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,368,839 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $141,962,000 after purchasing an additional 1,354,248 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Prudential Financial in the 4th quarter worth approximately $113,478,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in Prudential Financial by 10.8% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,000,665 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $414,926,000 after acquiring an additional 388,363 shares during the period. Finally, Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. purchased a new stake in Prudential Financial in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $34,251,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 56.83% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Prudential Financial

In other news, SVP Timothy L. Schmidt sold 5,189 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $116.58, for a total transaction of $604,933.62. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 12,236 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,426,472.88. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Prudential Financial news, SVP Timothy L. Schmidt sold 5,189 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $116.58, for a total value of $604,933.62. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 12,236 shares in the company, valued at $1,426,472.88. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, major shareholder Insurance Co Of Ame Prudential purchased 652,884 shares of Prudential Financial stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 20th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $27.57 per share, for a total transaction of $18,000,011.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 3,883,390 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $107,065,062.30. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PRU has been the subject of several research reports. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Prudential Financial from $109.00 to $117.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of Prudential Financial from $112.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Prudential Financial from $100.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Prudential Financial from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $121.00 to $143.00 in a research report on Wednesday, May 22nd. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of Prudential Financial from $115.00 to $116.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $115.25.

Prudential Financial Stock Down 0.9 %

PRU stock opened at $117.54 on Thursday. Prudential Financial, Inc. has a 12 month low of $85.04 and a 12 month high of $121.39. The firm has a market cap of $42.20 billion, a PE ratio of 19.99, a P/E/G ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 1.35. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $115.87 and a 200 day simple moving average of $110.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.13 and a quick ratio of 0.13.

Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The financial services provider reported $3.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.16 by ($0.04). Prudential Financial had a net margin of 3.76% and a return on equity of 15.50%. The company had revenue of $15.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.50 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.66 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 69.9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Prudential Financial, Inc. will post 13.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Prudential Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 13th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 21st were issued a $1.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 20th. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.42%. Prudential Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 88.44%.

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.