Accel Wealth Management Buys 778 Shares of Prudential Financial, Inc. $PRU

Accel Wealth Management raised its stake in Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU) by 7.6% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 11,018 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 778 shares during the quarter. Accel Wealth Management’s holdings in Prudential Financial were worth $1,184,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in PRU. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in shares of Prudential Financial in the first quarter worth about $90,010,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Prudential Financial by 19.2% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 4,206,453 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $469,777,000 after buying an additional 678,028 shares during the period. Amundi increased its stake in shares of Prudential Financial by 14.1% in the first quarter. Amundi now owns 1,751,633 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $183,571,000 after buying an additional 216,119 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Prudential Financial by 72.8% in the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 424,659 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $46,789,000 after buying an additional 178,888 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Prudential Financial by 2.7% in the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,440,003 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $495,859,000 after buying an additional 116,079 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 56.83% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Ann M. Kappler sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $109.65, for a total value of $438,600.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 21,506 shares in the company, valued at $2,358,132.90. This trade represents a 15.68% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.25% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Prudential Financial Stock Performance

Shares of PRU stock opened at $104.01 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $36.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.04. Prudential Financial, Inc. has a 52 week low of $90.38 and a 52 week high of $130.55. The company has a quick ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 0.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $105.19 and a 200-day moving average of $104.84.

Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The financial services provider reported $3.58 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.22 by $0.36. Prudential Financial had a net margin of 2.75% and a return on equity of 15.80%. The company had revenue of $13.50 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $13.47 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $3.39 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 2.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Prudential Financial, Inc. will post 14.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Prudential Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 11th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 19th were issued a $1.35 dividend. This represents a $5.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.2%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 19th. Prudential Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 119.73%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on PRU shares. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on Prudential Financial from $116.00 to $113.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Piper Sandler lowered their price objective on Prudential Financial from $109.00 to $108.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Prudential Financial in a research note on Saturday, September 27th. Wolfe Research began coverage on Prudential Financial in a research note on Tuesday, September 16th. They issued a “peer perform” rating for the company. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Prudential Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $122.08.

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.