Tidal Investments LLC Raises Holdings in Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU)

Tidal Investments LLC grew its position in shares of Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU) by 160.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 49,403 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 30,436 shares during the period. Tidal Investments LLC’s holdings in Prudential Financial were worth $5,856,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Merit Financial Group LLC grew its position in shares of Prudential Financial by 136.4% during the fourth quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 6,627 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $785,000 after purchasing an additional 3,824 shares in the last quarter. Orca Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Prudential Financial during the fourth quarter valued at about $3,424,000. CX Institutional grew its position in shares of Prudential Financial by 32.6% during the fourth quarter. CX Institutional now owns 43,724 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,183,000 after purchasing an additional 10,751 shares in the last quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. grew its position in shares of Prudential Financial by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 205,595 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $24,369,000 after purchasing an additional 3,235 shares in the last quarter. Finally, HB Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Prudential Financial by 52.0% in the fourth quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 11,959 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,418,000 after acquiring an additional 4,093 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 56.83% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PRU has been the subject of several recent research reports. BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on Prudential Financial in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $101.00 price target for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Prudential Financial from $128.00 to $126.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Piper Sandler dropped their price target on Prudential Financial from $110.00 to $109.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Prudential Financial from $108.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Prudential Financial from $108.00 to $117.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Prudential Financial presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $121.08.

Insider Activity

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

Prudential Financial Stock Down 2.0%

Shares of NYSE:PRU opened at $105.82 on Wednesday. Prudential Financial, Inc. has a 1 year low of $90.38 and a 1 year high of $130.55. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $104.77 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $113.77. The firm has a market capitalization of $37.46 billion, a PE ratio of 14.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 0.16 and a quick ratio of 0.16.

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

Prudential Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 20th will be paid a dividend of $1.35 per share. This represents a $5.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.10%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 20th. Prudential Financial’s dividend payout ratio 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.