Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. Buys 167 Shares of Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU)

Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU) by 9.3% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 1,968 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 167 shares during the quarter. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc.’s holdings in Prudential Financial were worth $233,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of Prudential Financial by 0.3% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 17,007,013 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,059,549,000 after purchasing an additional 49,830 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Prudential Financial by 4.1% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,662,679 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,047,872,000 after buying an additional 341,787 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its holdings in shares of Prudential Financial by 9.4% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 3,542,400 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $415,134,000 after acquiring an additional 305,143 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its position in shares of Prudential Financial by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 3,058,028 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $370,327,000 after acquiring an additional 47,561 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC raised its position in Prudential Financial by 31.3% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,444,288 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $174,903,000 after purchasing an additional 344,254 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 56.83% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Evercore ISI upgraded Prudential Financial from an “underperform” rating to an “inline” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $117.00 to $140.00 in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Barclays increased their price objective on Prudential Financial from $119.00 to $129.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on shares of Prudential Financial from $149.00 to $152.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Piper Sandler increased their target price on shares of Prudential Financial from $121.00 to $127.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Prudential Financial from $117.00 to $115.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $127.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, major shareholder Insurance Co Of Ame Prudential acquired 537,249 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 25th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $27.92 per share, for a total transaction of $14,999,992.08. Following the completion of the acquisition, the insider now owns 4,780,293 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $133,465,780.56. This trade represents a 12.66 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Prudential Financial Stock Performance

PRU stock opened at $120.10 on Thursday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $122.38 and a 200 day moving average price of $120.67. Prudential Financial, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $100.60 and a fifty-two week high of $130.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 0.14 and a quick ratio of 0.14. The stock has a market capitalization of $42.76 billion, a PE ratio of 10.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 1.31.

Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $3.48 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.47 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $19.48 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.57 billion. Prudential Financial had a return on equity of 15.30% and a net margin of 6.03%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.44 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Prudential Financial, Inc. will post 13.34 EPS for the current year.

Prudential Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 12th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 19th were given a dividend of $1.30 per share. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.33%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, November 19th. Prudential Financial’s dividend payout ratio is 46.22%.

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.