Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU) Shares Bought by Captrust Financial Advisors

Captrust Financial Advisors increased its stake in shares of Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU) by 7.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 32,518 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,116 shares during the quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors’ holdings in Prudential Financial were worth $3,854,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Prudential Financial by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 41,850,558 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,960,547,000 after buying an additional 220,671 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Prudential Financial by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,856,360 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,050,635,000 after purchasing an additional 193,681 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in Prudential Financial by 23.7% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 4,686,690 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $555,513,000 after purchasing an additional 897,916 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its holdings in shares of Prudential Financial by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,454,278 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $290,906,000 after buying an additional 6,938 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Prudential Financial by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,409,521 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $285,601,000 after buying an additional 26,210 shares during the last quarter. 56.83% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Andrew F. Sullivan sold 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.98, for a total transaction of $635,880.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 27,072 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,869,090.56. This represents a 18.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Insurance Co Of Ame Prudential purchased 87,047 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $28.72 per share, with a total value of $2,499,989.84. Following the acquisition, the insider now directly owns 87,047 shares in the company, valued at $2,499,989.84. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PRU has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on Prudential Financial from $136.00 to $128.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 28th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price on shares of Prudential Financial from $120.00 to $117.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Prudential Financial from $108.00 to $113.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday. Piper Sandler reduced their price target on Prudential Financial from $110.00 to $109.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets began coverage on Prudential Financial in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $101.00 price objective for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $121.92.

Prudential Financial Stock Performance

Prudential Financial stock opened at $103.55 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.16 and a current ratio of 0.16. Prudential Financial, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $90.38 and a fifty-two week high of $130.55. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $104.89 and a two-hundred day moving average of $114.68. The company has a market capitalization of $36.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.86, a PEG ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 1.07.

Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The financial services provider reported $3.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.18 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $13.61 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.76 billion. Prudential Financial had a net margin of 4.01% and a return on equity of 15.86%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 38.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $3.12 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Prudential Financial, Inc. will post 14.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Prudential Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 20th will be issued a $1.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 20th. This represents a $5.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.21%. Prudential Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 85.58%.

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.