Marshall Wace LLP Purchases 542,964 Shares of Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU)

Marshall Wace LLP grew its position in Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU) by 322.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 711,102 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 542,964 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP owned 0.20% of Prudential Financial worth $84,287,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Barclays PLC increased its position in shares of Prudential Financial by 11.0% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,062,776 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $128,700,000 after purchasing an additional 105,089 shares in the last quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in Prudential Financial by 4.8% during the 3rd quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,792 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $338,000 after buying an additional 127 shares during the last quarter. Arvest Bank Trust Division acquired a new position in Prudential Financial during the 3rd quarter valued at about $2,294,000. Tidal Investments LLC raised its stake in Prudential Financial by 22.5% in the third quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 18,967 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,297,000 after buying an additional 3,483 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Synovus Financial Corp boosted its holdings in Prudential Financial by 22.1% in the third quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 3,004 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $364,000 after acquiring an additional 543 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 56.83% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Andrew F. Sullivan sold 6,000 shares of Prudential Financial stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.98, for a total value of $635,880.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 27,072 shares in the company, valued at $2,869,090.56. This trade represents a 18.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, major shareholder Insurance Co Of Ame Prudential purchased 52,595 shares of Prudential Financial stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 25th. The shares were bought at an average price of $28.52 per share, with a total value of $1,500,009.40. Following the transaction, 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. Insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Prudential Financial Stock Down 1.6 %

Shares of PRU stock opened at $98.64 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 0.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. Prudential Financial, Inc. has a twelve month low of $90.38 and a twelve month high of $130.55. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $108.18 and a 200 day moving average of $117.18. The stock has a market cap of $34.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.20, a P/E/G ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 1.11.

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

Prudential Financial Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were paid a dividend of $1.35 per share. This is a positive change from Prudential Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.30. This represents a $5.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.47%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 18th. Prudential Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 72.29%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently commented on PRU. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of Prudential Financial from $128.00 to $126.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. BMO Capital Markets started coverage on shares of Prudential Financial in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $101.00 price target for the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on shares of Prudential Financial from $125.00 to $120.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. UBS Group reduced their target price on Prudential Financial from $130.00 to $122.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Finally, Piper Sandler dropped their price target on Prudential Financial from $122.00 to $110.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $121.85.

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.