Russell Investments Group Ltd. Decreases Stake in Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU)

Russell Investments Group Ltd. trimmed its holdings in Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU) by 6.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 144,396 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 9,738 shares during the quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd.’s holdings in Prudential Financial were worth $14,999,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. FMR LLC raised its holdings in shares of Prudential Financial by 2.9% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,315,215 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $124,801,000 after purchasing an additional 36,599 shares during the last quarter. Tyche Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Prudential Financial during the fourth quarter valued at $815,000. Arvest Investments Inc. bought a new position in Prudential Financial in the fourth quarter valued at about $2,112,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Prudential Financial by 14.5% during the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 268,728 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $25,500,000 after purchasing an additional 34,054 shares during the period. Finally, AustralianSuper Pty Ltd increased its position in shares of Prudential Financial by 17.2% during the 4th quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd now owns 868,535 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $90,076,000 after purchasing an additional 127,772 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 56.83% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PRU has been the subject of several recent research reports. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of Prudential Financial from $115.00 to $116.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Prudential Financial from $109.00 to $117.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. 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 report on Thursday, April 11th. UBS Group raised their price objective on Prudential Financial from $108.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 12th. Finally, Piper Sandler increased their target price on shares of Prudential Financial from $114.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, April 5th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have assigned a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $111.42.

Insider Buying and Selling at Prudential Financial

In other news, SVP Timothy L. Schmidt sold 7,912 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $108.13, for a total transaction of $855,524.56. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 14,754 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,595,350.02. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, SVP Timothy L. Schmidt sold 7,912 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 sale, the senior vice president now owns 14,754 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,595,350.02. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Ann M. Kappler sold 7,222 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $108.39, for a total transaction of $782,792.58. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 24,381 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,642,656.59. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 29,255 shares of company stock worth $3,215,664 over the last 90 days. 0.31% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Prudential Financial Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of PRU stock opened at $112.26 on Friday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $112.06 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $104.21. Prudential Financial, Inc. has a 52 week low of $77.22 and a 52 week high of $118.69. The stock has a market cap of $40.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.09, a PEG ratio of 0.83 and a beta of 1.35. The company has a quick ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 0.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67.

Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The financial services provider reported $3.12 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 15.50%. The firm had revenue of $15.01 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.50 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.66 earnings per share. Prudential Financial’s quarterly revenue was up 69.9% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that Prudential Financial, Inc. will post 13.34 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Prudential Financial Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 14th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 20th were given a $1.30 dividend. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.63%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 16th. This is a boost from Prudential Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.25. Prudential Financial’s payout ratio is currently 88.44%.

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.