Bragg Financial Advisors Inc Grows Position in Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU)

Bragg Financial Advisors Inc increased its position in Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU) by 0.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 91,250 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 515 shares during the quarter. Bragg Financial Advisors Inc’s holdings in Prudential Financial were worth $10,816,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PRU. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Prudential Financial by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 41,850,558 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,960,547,000 after acquiring an additional 220,671 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Prudential Financial by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,856,360 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,050,635,000 after purchasing an additional 193,681 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in Prudential Financial by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,454,278 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $290,906,000 after buying an additional 6,938 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Prudential Financial by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,409,521 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $285,601,000 after buying an additional 26,210 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Amundi increased its stake in shares of Prudential Financial by 32.7% during the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 1,535,514 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $181,851,000 after buying an additional 378,266 shares during the period. 56.83% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently weighed in on PRU. UBS Group cut their price target on shares of Prudential Financial from $130.00 to $122.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Prudential Financial from $136.00 to $128.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Prudential Financial from $128.00 to $126.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Barclays reduced their target price on Prudential Financial from $134.00 to $106.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Finally, BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on Prudential Financial in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. They set an “underperform” rating and a $101.00 price target on the stock. One 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, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $122.77.

Insider Activity

In other Prudential Financial news, EVP Andrew F. Sullivan sold 6,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.98, for a total value of $635,880.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 27,072 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,869,090.56. The trade was a 18.14 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Insurance Co Of Ame Prudential purchased 52,595 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 25th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $28.52 per share, for a total transaction of $1,500,009.40. Following the acquisition, the insider now owns 139,987 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,992,429.24. The trade was a 60.18 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Prudential Financial Stock Performance

Shares of Prudential Financial stock opened at $98.70 on Friday. Prudential Financial, Inc. has a 1 year low of $90.38 and a 1 year high of $130.55. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $108.98 and its 200 day moving average is $117.58. The stock has a market cap of $34.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.21, a PEG ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 0.16 and a quick ratio of 0.16.

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

Prudential Financial Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were paid a $1.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $5.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.47%. This is a boost from Prudential Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.30. Prudential Financial’s 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.