Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU) Shares Acquired by Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC

Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU) by 15.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 58,699 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,981 shares during the quarter. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC’s holdings in Prudential Financial were worth $6,088,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Prudential Financial by 1.5% in the 1st quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,613,784 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $628,529,000 after purchasing an additional 111,170 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley raised its holdings in shares of Prudential Financial by 6.7% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 6,589,363 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $655,378,000 after acquiring an additional 413,421 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Prudential Financial by 6.0% during the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,353,887 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $750,839,000 after acquiring an additional 356,957 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in shares of Prudential Financial by 4.8% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 4,353,086 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $413,064,000 after acquiring an additional 197,422 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Prudential Financial by 3.3% during the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,247,466 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $383,753,000 after acquiring an additional 103,853 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 56.83% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Prudential Financial

In other Prudential Financial news, EVP Andrew F. Sullivan sold 7,685 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $111.57, for a total transaction of $857,415.45. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 13,691 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,527,504.87. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, EVP Andrew F. Sullivan sold 7,685 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $111.57, for a total transaction of $857,415.45. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 13,691 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,527,504.87. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Robert Axel sold 6,436 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $111.86, for a total value of $719,930.96. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 7,901 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $883,805.86. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 29,255 shares of company stock valued at $3,215,664. 0.31% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on PRU shares. UBS Group upped their price target on Prudential Financial from $108.00 to $112.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 12th. TheStreet raised Prudential Financial from a “c+” rating to an “a-” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on Prudential Financial from $112.00 to $118.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on Prudential Financial from $114.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Prudential Financial from $100.00 to $106.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have assigned a hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $111.33.

Prudential Financial Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:PRU traded up $1.70 during trading on Friday, hitting $110.40. 528,432 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,514,155. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $111.20 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $102.94. The company has a market cap of $39.63 billion, a PE ratio of 16.25, a P/E/G ratio of 0.73 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a current ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 0.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. Prudential Financial, Inc. has a 12-month low of $77.22 and a 12-month high of $118.69.

Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 6th. The financial services provider reported $2.58 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.67 by ($0.09). The firm had revenue of $13.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.99 billion. Prudential Financial had a return on equity of 14.52% and a net margin of 4.89%. Prudential Financial’s revenue was up 6.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.42 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Prudential Financial, Inc. will post 13.38 EPS for the current year.

Prudential Financial Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 14th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 20th were paid a $1.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 16th. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.71%. This is a positive change from Prudential Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.25. Prudential Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 77.73%.

Prudential Financial 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.