Donoghue Forlines LLC Takes Position in Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU)

Donoghue Forlines LLC purchased a new stake in Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU) during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor purchased 12,897 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,529,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PRU. Grove Bank & Trust raised its stake in shares of Prudential Financial by 65.9% in the 4th quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 219 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 87 shares in the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in Prudential Financial during the third quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Quarry LP lifted its holdings in Prudential Financial by 376.3% during the 3rd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 281 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 222 shares during the last quarter. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC bought a new stake in shares of Prudential Financial in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Finally, Tompkins Financial Corp raised its position in shares of Prudential Financial by 61.7% during the 3rd quarter. Tompkins Financial Corp now owns 367 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $44,000 after acquiring an additional 140 shares in the last quarter. 56.83% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Prudential Financial Price Performance

Shares of NYSE PRU opened at $117.44 on Thursday. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $121.68 and its 200 day simple moving average is $120.69. The stock has a market cap of $41.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.44, a P/E/G ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 1.31. The company has a quick ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 0.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60. Prudential Financial, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $100.60 and a fifty-two week high of $130.55.

Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU) last issued its quarterly 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 analyst estimates of $14.57 billion. Prudential Financial had a net margin of 6.03% and a return on equity of 15.30%. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $3.44 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Prudential Financial, Inc. will post 13.26 EPS for the current year.

Prudential Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 12th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 19th were issued a $1.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, November 19th. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.43%. Prudential Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 46.22%.

Insider Activity

In other news, major shareholder Insurance Co Of Ame Prudential bought 537,249 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 4,780,293 shares in the company, valued at approximately $133,465,780.56. The trade was a 12.66 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have weighed in on PRU shares. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Prudential Financial from an “underperform” rating to an “inline” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $117.00 to $140.00 in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Piper Sandler dropped their price objective on shares of Prudential Financial from $127.00 to $124.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of Prudential Financial from $149.00 to $152.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price on Prudential Financial from $135.00 to $129.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Prudential Financial from $117.00 to $115.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $125.31.

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.