Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC Grows Stock Position in Prudential Financial, Inc. $PRU

Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC boosted its stake in Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU) by 15.6% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 4,948 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 666 shares during the period. Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC’s holdings in Prudential Financial were worth $553,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Meeder Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in Prudential Financial by 90.2% in the 1st quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 234 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 111 shares during the period. Cheviot Value Management LLC purchased a new position in Prudential Financial in the 1st quarter worth approximately $26,000. North Capital Inc. purchased a new position in Prudential Financial in the 1st quarter worth approximately $28,000. AlphaQuest LLC increased its stake in Prudential Financial by 12,250.0% in the 1st quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 247 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 245 shares during the period. Finally, Opal Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Prudential Financial in the 1st quarter worth approximately $30,000. 56.83% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Prudential Financial from $113.00 to $117.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 18th. Piper Sandler cut their price objective on Prudential Financial from $109.00 to $108.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Prudential Financial from $126.00 to $136.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. UBS Group cut their price objective on Prudential Financial from $122.00 to $110.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, May 27th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on Prudential Financial from $119.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Prudential Financial presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $122.08.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Prudential Financial news, EVP Ann M. Kappler sold 4,000 shares of Prudential Financial stock in a transaction on Friday, August 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $109.65, for a total transaction of $438,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 21,506 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,358,132.90. The trade was a 15.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 acquired 1,675,978 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, June 16th. The shares were bought at an average price of $28.64 per share, with a total value of $48,000,009.92. Following the purchase, the insider directly owned 3,168,461 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $90,744,723.04. The trade was a 112.29% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.25% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Prudential Financial Trading Up 1.3%

NYSE PRU opened at $108.83 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 0.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60. Prudential Financial, Inc. has a twelve month low of $90.38 and a twelve month high of $130.55. The firm has a market capitalization of $38.31 billion, a PE ratio of 24.13, a P/E/G ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 1.07. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $105.91 and its 200 day moving average is $105.73.

Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The financial services provider reported $3.58 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.22 by $0.36. Prudential Financial had a return on equity of 15.80% and a net margin of 2.75%.The company had revenue of $13.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.47 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $3.39 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 2.5% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Prudential Financial, Inc. will post 14.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Prudential Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 19th will be given a dividend of $1.35 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 19th. This represents a $5.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.0%. Prudential Financial’s payout ratio is currently 119.73%.

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.