Goldstone Financial Group LLC Purchases 229 Shares of Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU)

Goldstone Financial Group LLC increased its holdings in Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU) by 6.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 3,754 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 229 shares during the period. Goldstone Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Prudential Financial were worth $445,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI grew its position in Prudential Financial by 90.7% in the second quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 4,111 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $482,000 after acquiring an additional 1,955 shares in the last quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. purchased a new position in shares of Prudential Financial in the 2nd quarter worth about $258,000. Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Co bought a new position in shares of Prudential Financial during the 2nd quarter valued at about $857,000. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV lifted its position in Prudential Financial by 0.9% in the 2nd quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 34,074 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,993,000 after buying an additional 291 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. boosted its stake in Prudential Financial by 389.6% in the second quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. now owns 25,161 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,949,000 after buying an additional 20,022 shares in the last quarter. 56.83% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on PRU. Evercore ISI raised Prudential Financial from an “underperform” rating to an “inline” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $117.00 to $140.00 in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on shares of Prudential Financial from $149.00 to $152.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Piper Sandler dropped their target price on shares of Prudential Financial from $127.00 to $124.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price target on Prudential Financial from $135.00 to $129.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on Prudential Financial from $119.00 to $129.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $127.42.

Prudential Financial Stock Down 1.3 %

Shares of Prudential Financial stock opened at $118.47 on Friday. Prudential Financial, Inc. has a 1 year low of $100.60 and a 1 year 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 company has a 50-day moving average of $122.23 and a 200 day moving average of $120.66. The firm has a market cap of $42.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.53, a PEG ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 1.31.

Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $3.48 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.47 by $0.01. Prudential Financial had a return on equity of 15.30% and a net margin of 6.03%. The firm had revenue of $19.48 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.57 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $3.44 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Prudential Financial, Inc. will post 13.34 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Prudential Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 12th. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 19th were paid a $1.30 dividend. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.39%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, November 19th. Prudential Financial’s payout ratio is 46.22%.

Insider Activity at Prudential Financial

In other Prudential Financial news, major shareholder Insurance Co Of Ame Prudential acquired 537,249 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 25th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $27.92 per share, with a total value of $14,999,992.08. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 4,780,293 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $133,465,780.56. The trade was a 12.66 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.