Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU) Shares Acquired by Grove Bank & Trust

Grove Bank & Trust increased its position in Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU) by 65.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 219 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 87 shares during the period. Grove Bank & Trust’s holdings in Prudential Financial were worth $26,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Glenmede Trust Co. NA increased its position in Prudential Financial by 7.4% during the third quarter. Glenmede Trust Co. NA now owns 17,968 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,176,000 after purchasing an additional 1,234 shares during the last quarter. Avanza Fonder AB acquired a new position in Prudential Financial during the fourth quarter worth approximately $3,423,000. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC increased its position in Prudential Financial by 56.1% during the fourth quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC now owns 21,998 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,607,000 after purchasing an additional 7,907 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in Prudential Financial by 3.9% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 419,733 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $50,830,000 after purchasing an additional 15,695 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its position in Prudential Financial by 2.3% during the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 79,256 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $9,597,000 after purchasing an additional 1,765 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 56.83% of the company’s stock.

Prudential Financial Trading Up 0.5 %

NYSE PRU opened at $118.98 on Tuesday. Prudential Financial, Inc. has a 12 month low of $100.60 and a 12 month 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 market capitalization of $42.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 1.31. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $122.06 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $120.69.

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

Prudential Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 12th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 19th were paid a dividend of $1.30 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, November 19th. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.37%. Prudential Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 46.22%.

Insider Transactions at Prudential Financial

In other Prudential Financial news, major shareholder Insurance Co Of Ame Prudential purchased 537,249 shares of Prudential Financial stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 25th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $27.92 per share, for a total transaction of $14,999,992.08. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 4,780,293 shares in the company, valued at $133,465,780.56. This represents a 12.66 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently commented on PRU. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price target on shares of Prudential Financial from $135.00 to $129.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Prudential Financial from $129.00 to $127.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Evercore ISI raised shares of Prudential Financial from an “underperform” rating to an “inline” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $117.00 to $140.00 in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on shares of Prudential Financial from $149.00 to $152.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of 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. Eleven equities 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $127.25.

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.