7,375 Shares in Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU) Bought by Lecap Asset Management Ltd.

Lecap Asset Management Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 7,375 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $874,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. AMF Tjanstepension AB raised its stake in Prudential Financial by 12.5% during the third quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 203,197 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $24,642,000 after acquiring an additional 22,588 shares during the period. Daymark Wealth Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Prudential Financial by 3.9% during the 3rd quarter. Daymark Wealth Partners LLC now owns 2,616 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $317,000 after purchasing an additional 97 shares during the period. CWM LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Prudential Financial by 7.5% in the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 14,013 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,697,000 after purchasing an additional 977 shares during the last quarter. Wedmont Private Capital grew its stake in Prudential Financial by 8.3% during the 3rd quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 3,516 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $424,000 after buying an additional 270 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. increased its position in Prudential Financial by 2.7% in the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 3,660 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $443,000 after buying an additional 97 shares during the period. 56.83% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price target on shares of Prudential Financial from $135.00 to $129.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Piper Sandler dropped their price target on shares of Prudential Financial from $127.00 to $124.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Barclays boosted their price objective on Prudential Financial from $128.00 to $134.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday. BMO Capital Markets began coverage on Prudential Financial in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $101.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on Prudential Financial from $149.00 to $152.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven 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.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $125.77.

Insider Transactions at Prudential Financial

In other Prudential Financial news, major shareholder Insurance Co Of Ame Prudential purchased 537,249 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 25th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $27.92 per share, with a total value of $14,999,992.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 4,780,293 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $133,465,780.56. This represents a 12.66 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Prudential Financial Stock Performance

NYSE:PRU opened at $112.80 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 0.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60. The company has a 50-day moving average of $119.75 and a 200-day moving average of $120.37. Prudential Financial, Inc. has a twelve month low of $104.02 and a twelve month high of $130.55. The firm has a market cap of $40.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 1.31.

Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU) last posted its quarterly 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 return on equity of 15.30% and a net margin of 6.03%. Analysts forecast that Prudential Financial, Inc. will post 13.24 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Prudential Financial Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be issued a $1.35 dividend. This represents a $5.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.79%. This is a boost from Prudential Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.30. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 18th. Prudential Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 46.22%.

About Prudential Financial

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.