D.A. Davidson & CO. Buys 8,859 Shares of Prudential Financial, Inc. $PRU

D.A. Davidson & CO. lifted its stake in shares of Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU) by 7.4% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 129,127 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 8,859 shares during the quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO.’s holdings in Prudential Financial were worth $12,614,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Jessup Wealth Management Inc bought a new stake in Prudential Financial during the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Garton & Associates Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in Prudential Financial in the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Salomon & Ludwin LLC raised its position in shares of Prudential Financial by 98.3% in the 4th quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 230 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 114 shares in the last quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. raised its position in shares of Prudential Financial by 93.1% in the 1st quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 278 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 134 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lodestone Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Prudential Financial during the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 56.83% of the company’s stock.

Prudential Financial Trading Up 2.6%

NYSE PRU opened at $117.99 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 0.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58. Prudential Financial, Inc. has a twelve month low of $91.89 and a twelve month high of $119.76. The company has a market cap of $40.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.85. The business’s fifty day moving average is $106.91 and its 200 day moving average is $104.07.

Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 5th. The financial services provider reported $3.61 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.09 by $0.52. The business had revenue of $15.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.10 billion. Prudential Financial had a return on equity of 16.33% and a net margin of 5.83%.During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.29 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Prudential Financial, Inc. will post 13.73 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Prudential Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 11th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 26th were paid a $1.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 26th. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.7%. Prudential Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 57.61%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on PRU shares. Bank of America decreased their price objective on shares of Prudential Financial from $112.00 to $104.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 14th. BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on Prudential Financial from $91.00 to $87.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. UBS Group decreased their price target on Prudential Financial from $105.00 to $98.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. Barclays boosted their price target on Prudential Financial from $90.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on Prudential Financial from $106.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and five have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Prudential Financial presently has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $104.58.

About Prudential Financial

Prudential Financial, Inc, headquartered in Newark, New Jersey, is a diversified financial services company with roots dating to 1875. The firm provides a range of insurance, retirement and investment products aimed at helping individual and institutional clients manage risk, accumulate and protect wealth, and plan for retirement. Prudential’s long history in life insurance and related financial services has positioned it as a major participant in the U.S. insurance market and a provider of services to a broad client base.

Prudential’s core business activities include individual life insurance, annuities, retirement solutions and group insurance products for employers.