RFG Advisory LLC Buys 1,488 Shares of Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU)

RFG Advisory LLC raised its stake in Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU) by 16.5% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 10,489 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,488 shares during the period. RFG Advisory LLC’s holdings in Prudential Financial were worth $1,243,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. State Street Corp grew its position in Prudential Financial by 0.3% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 17,007,013 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,059,549,000 after buying an additional 49,830 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Prudential Financial by 4.1% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,662,679 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,047,872,000 after acquiring an additional 341,787 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc grew its holdings in shares of Prudential Financial by 9.4% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 3,542,400 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $415,134,000 after purchasing an additional 305,143 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its position in shares of Prudential Financial by 1.6% during 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 purchasing an additional 47,561 shares during the period. Finally, FMR LLC raised its stake in shares of Prudential Financial by 31.3% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,444,288 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $174,903,000 after purchasing an additional 344,254 shares in the last quarter. 56.83% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of Prudential Financial from $109.00 to $118.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Evercore ISI raised shares of Prudential Financial from an “underperform” rating to an “inline” rating and upped their target price for the company from $117.00 to $140.00 in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Prudential Financial from $127.00 to $128.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday. Piper Sandler dropped their target price on Prudential Financial from $127.00 to $124.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets started coverage on Prudential Financial in a research note on Thursday. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $101.00 price target on the stock. 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 stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $125.31.

Insider Activity

In related news, major shareholder Insurance Co Of Ame Prudential purchased 537,249 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 25th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $27.92 per share, with a total value of $14,999,992.08. Following the purchase, the insider now directly owns 4,780,293 shares in the company, valued at $133,465,780.56. The trade was a 12.66 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.31% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Prudential Financial Trading Up 0.3 %

PRU stock opened at $117.22 on Friday. 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 twelve month low of $100.60 and a twelve month high of $130.55. The company has a market cap of $41.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.42, a PEG ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 1.31. The business has a fifty day moving average of $121.29 and a 200-day moving average of $120.66.

Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $3.48 earnings per share (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 company 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 company posted $3.44 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Prudential Financial, Inc. will post 13.24 EPS for the current year.

Prudential Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 12th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 19th were given a dividend of $1.30 per share. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.44%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, November 19th. Prudential Financial’s payout ratio is 46.22%.

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.