Carson Advisory Inc. Increases Stock Holdings in Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU)

Carson Advisory Inc. boosted its position in Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU) by 2.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 8,997 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 201 shares during the period. Carson Advisory Inc.’s holdings in Prudential Financial were worth $933,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of PRU. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC boosted its position in Prudential Financial by 0.7% in the third quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 340,251 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $32,286,000 after purchasing an additional 2,511 shares during the last quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Prudential Financial by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 116,851 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $11,088,000 after buying an additional 1,409 shares in the last quarter. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Prudential Financial during the 3rd quarter valued at about $238,000. Xponance Inc. increased its stake in Prudential Financial by 3.1% in the 3rd quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 46,757 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,437,000 after acquiring an additional 1,406 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pinnacle Associates Ltd. increased its stake in Prudential Financial by 4.6% in the 3rd quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. now owns 16,252 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,542,000 after acquiring an additional 715 shares during the last quarter. 56.83% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Prudential Financial Stock Performance

NYSE:PRU traded down $1.01 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $111.29. The company had a trading volume of 1,798,250 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,528,312. Prudential Financial, Inc. has a 1-year low of $77.22 and a 1-year high of $118.69. The firm has a market cap of $39.95 billion, a PE ratio of 19.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 1.35. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $112.00 and its 200-day moving average price is $104.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.13 and a quick ratio of 0.13.

Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The financial services provider reported $3.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.16 by ($0.04). Prudential Financial had a net margin of 3.76% and a return on equity of 15.54%. The company had revenue of $15.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.50 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.66 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 69.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that Prudential Financial, Inc. will post 13.38 EPS for the current year.

Prudential Financial Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 20th were paid a dividend of $1.30 per share. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.67%. This is an increase from Prudential Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.25. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 16th. Prudential Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 88.44%.

Insider Transactions at Prudential Financial

In other news, SVP Timothy L. Schmidt sold 7,912 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $108.13, for a total transaction of $855,524.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 14,754 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,595,350.02. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, SVP Timothy L. Schmidt sold 7,912 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $108.13, for a total transaction of $855,524.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 14,754 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,595,350.02. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Robert Axel sold 6,436 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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. Insiders sold a total of 29,255 shares of company stock valued at $3,215,664 in the last three months. 0.31% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have issued reports on PRU. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $118.00 price objective (down previously from $119.00) on shares of Prudential Financial in a research note on Wednesday, January 3rd. Raymond James lowered Prudential Financial from a “strong-buy” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 9th. 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 research note on Thursday, April 11th. Piper Sandler lifted their target price 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, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on Prudential Financial from $112.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have given a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $111.42.

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.