Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU) Position Trimmed by Herold Advisors Inc.

Herold Advisors Inc. reduced its stake in shares of Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU) by 13.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 3,184 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 497 shares during the quarter. Herold Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Prudential Financial were worth $330,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Prudential Financial by 9,281.4% in the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,368,839 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $141,962,000 after buying an additional 1,354,248 shares during the last quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. acquired a new stake in shares of Prudential Financial in the 3rd quarter valued at $34,251,000. abrdn plc boosted its holdings in Prudential Financial by 37.5% in the fourth quarter. abrdn plc now owns 1,107,210 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $114,829,000 after purchasing an additional 302,164 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in Prudential Financial by 39.2% during the third quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,004,087 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $95,278,000 after buying an additional 282,667 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Prudential Financial by 80.6% in the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 562,875 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $53,411,000 after buying an additional 251,269 shares during the last quarter. 56.83% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Prudential Financial

In related news, EVP Andrew F. Sullivan sold 7,685 shares of Prudential Financial stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $111.57, for a total transaction of $857,415.45. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 13,691 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,527,504.87. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, EVP Andrew F. Sullivan sold 7,685 shares of the firm’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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,527,504.87. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Timothy L. Schmidt sold 7,912 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $108.13, for a total value of $855,524.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 14,754 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,595,350.02. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 29,255 shares of company stock worth $3,215,664 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the company. TheStreet raised Prudential Financial from a “c+” rating to an “a-” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 6th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Prudential Financial from $109.00 to $117.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Prudential Financial from $100.00 to $106.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on shares of Prudential Financial from $112.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their price target on Prudential Financial from $115.00 to $116.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Thursday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have given a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $111.42.

Prudential Financial Stock Performance

PRU traded down $0.68 during trading on Friday, reaching $110.50. 1,014,799 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,504,422. The company has a market capitalization of $39.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.52, a PEG ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a quick ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 0.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $111.75 and a 200 day moving average price of $103.73. Prudential Financial, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $77.22 and a fifty-two week high of $118.69.

Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 6th. The financial services provider reported $2.58 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.67 by ($0.09). Prudential Financial had a net margin of 4.89% and a return on equity of 14.52%. The business had revenue of $13.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.99 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.42 earnings per share. Prudential Financial’s revenue was up 6.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that Prudential Financial, Inc. will post 13.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Prudential Financial Increases Dividend

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

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.