Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. Acquires 201 Shares of Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU)

Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU) by 2.7% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 7,640 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 201 shares during the quarter. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Prudential Financial were worth $906,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. State Street Corp raised its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 49,830 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Prudential Financial by 4.1% in the third 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 acquiring an additional 341,787 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its holdings in shares of Prudential Financial by 1.6% in the third 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. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its holdings in shares of Prudential Financial by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,454,278 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $290,906,000 after acquiring an additional 6,938 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Prudential Financial by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,409,521 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $285,601,000 after acquiring an additional 26,210 shares in the last quarter. 56.83% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PRU has been the subject of several recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Prudential Financial from $113.00 to $118.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on Prudential Financial from $136.00 to $128.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Evercore ISI upgraded Prudential Financial from an “underperform” rating to an “inline” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $117.00 to $140.00 in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on Prudential Financial in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $101.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their target price on Prudential Financial from $129.00 to $125.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten 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 data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $126.15.

Prudential Financial Price Performance

Shares of PRU stock opened at $106.16 on Thursday. Prudential Financial, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $104.45 and a fifty-two week high of $130.55. The firm has a market capitalization of $38.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.21, a PEG ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.16 and a current ratio of 0.16. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $114.79 and its 200-day simple moving average is $119.54.

Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The financial services provider reported $2.96 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.36 by ($0.40). Prudential Financial had a return on equity of 15.86% and a net margin of 4.01%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Prudential Financial, Inc. will post 14.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Prudential Financial Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be given a $1.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $5.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.09%. This is a positive change from Prudential Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.30. Prudential Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 72.29%.

Prudential Financial Company 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.