Prospera Financial Services Inc Buys 318 Shares of Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU)

Prospera Financial Services Inc raised its stake in Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU) by 3.9% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 8,466 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 318 shares during the quarter. Prospera Financial Services Inc’s holdings in Prudential Financial were worth $1,026,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Legal & General Group Plc raised its position in Prudential Financial by 9.4% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 3,542,400 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $415,134,000 after purchasing an additional 305,143 shares in the last quarter. abrdn plc raised its holdings in shares of Prudential Financial by 4.0% during the 3rd quarter. abrdn plc now owns 1,309,155 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $158,120,000 after buying an additional 50,026 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in Prudential Financial by 4,130.8% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,298,257 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $157,219,000 after buying an additional 1,267,571 shares in the last quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd grew its position in Prudential Financial by 2.3% during the third quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd now owns 1,265,996 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $153,312,000 after acquiring an additional 28,459 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Swiss National Bank lifted its holdings in shares of Prudential Financial by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 1,065,600 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $129,044,000 after acquiring an additional 2,700 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 56.83% of the company’s stock.

Prudential Financial Trading Up 1.3 %

Shares of PRU opened at $127.92 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $123.30 and its 200-day moving average price is $119.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $45.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.37, a PEG ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a current ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 0.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60. Prudential Financial, Inc. has a 1-year low of $94.92 and a 1-year high of $129.13.

Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $3.48 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.47 by $0.01. Prudential Financial had a net margin of 6.03% and a return on equity of 15.30%. The firm had revenue of $19.48 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.57 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.44 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Prudential Financial, Inc. will post 13.33 EPS for the current year.

Prudential Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 19th will be paid a dividend of $1.30 per share. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.07%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 19th. Prudential Financial’s payout ratio is currently 46.22%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of Prudential Financial from $123.00 to $122.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 19th. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on Prudential Financial from $121.00 to $127.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Bank of America lifted their price target on Prudential Financial from $109.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued a “market perform” rating and set a $121.00 price objective on shares of Prudential Financial in a research note on Wednesday, August 21st. Finally, Evercore ISI raised shares of Prudential Financial from an “underperform” rating to an “inline” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $117.00 to $140.00 in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Prudential Financial currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $125.69.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Caroline Feeney sold 1,110 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $119.97, for a total value of $133,166.70. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 10,175 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,220,694.75. This represents a 9.84 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Insurance Co Of Ame Prudential bought 261,059 shares of Prudential Financial stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 8th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $27.58 per share, with a total value of $7,200,007.22. Following the acquisition, the insider now owns 4,208,549 shares in the company, valued at approximately $116,071,781.42. This represents a 6.61 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.31% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.