EP Wealth Advisors LLC Buys 855 Shares of Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU)

EP Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU) by 12.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 7,642 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 855 shares during the period. EP Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Prudential Financial were worth $906,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Barclays PLC grew its position in Prudential Financial by 11.0% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,062,776 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $128,700,000 after acquiring an additional 105,089 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in shares of Prudential Financial by 33.2% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 122,245 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $15,301,000 after buying an additional 30,437 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in Prudential Financial by 3.9% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 419,733 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $50,830,000 after buying an additional 15,695 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its position in Prudential Financial by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 53,909 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $6,528,000 after buying an additional 1,326 shares during the period. Finally, ST Germain D J Co. Inc. grew its holdings in Prudential Financial by 55.9% during the 4th quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 837 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $99,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 56.83% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Prudential Financial

In related news, EVP Andrew F. Sullivan sold 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.98, for a total transaction of $635,880.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 27,072 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,869,090.56. This trade represents a 18.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, major shareholder Insurance Co Of Ame Prudential bought 52,595 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 25th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $28.52 per share, with a total value of $1,500,009.40. Following the completion of 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. Company insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on PRU shares. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Prudential Financial from $108.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on Prudential Financial in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $101.00 price target for the company. Piper Sandler cut their price objective on Prudential Financial from $110.00 to $109.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of Prudential Financial from $134.00 to $106.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Finally, UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of Prudential Financial from $130.00 to $122.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $121.92.

Prudential Financial Price Performance

Shares of PRU opened at $103.55 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $36.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.86, a P/E/G ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 1.07. The business’s fifty day moving average is $104.89 and its 200 day moving average is $114.61. The company has a quick ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 0.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. Prudential Financial, Inc. has a 12-month low of $90.38 and a 12-month high of $130.55.

Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The financial services provider reported $3.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.18 by $0.11. Prudential Financial had a net margin of 4.01% and a return on equity of 15.86%. The firm had revenue of $13.61 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.76 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $3.12 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 38.2% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Prudential Financial, Inc. will post 14.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Prudential Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 20th will be issued a dividend of $1.35 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 20th. This represents a $5.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.21%. Prudential Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 85.58%.

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.