Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU) Shares Bought by Stifel Financial Corp

Stifel Financial Corp raised its holdings in Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU) by 0.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 957,821 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,476 shares during the period. Stifel Financial Corp owned about 0.27% of Prudential Financial worth $113,530,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Prudential Financial by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 41,850,558 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,960,547,000 after purchasing an additional 220,671 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Prudential Financial by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,856,360 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,050,635,000 after acquiring an additional 193,681 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its position in shares of Prudential Financial by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,454,278 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $290,906,000 after acquiring an additional 6,938 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Prudential Financial by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,409,521 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $285,601,000 after purchasing an additional 26,210 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Amundi boosted its holdings in Prudential Financial by 32.7% in the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 1,535,514 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $181,851,000 after purchasing an additional 378,266 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 56.83% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on PRU shares. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Prudential Financial from $136.00 to $128.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 28th. BMO Capital Markets began coverage on shares of Prudential Financial in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $101.00 target price on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on Prudential Financial from $128.00 to $126.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. UBS Group cut their price target on Prudential Financial from $130.00 to $122.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Finally, Barclays dropped their target price on Prudential Financial from $134.00 to $106.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $121.85.

Insider Activity

In related news, major shareholder Insurance Co Of Ame Prudential bought 52,595 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 25th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $28.52 per share, with a total value of $1,500,009.40. Following the acquisition, the insider now owns 139,987 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,992,429.24. This represents a 60.18 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Andrew F. Sullivan sold 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.98, for a total value of $635,880.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 27,072 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,869,090.56. This represents a 18.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.25% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Prudential Financial Stock Down 2.7 %

Shares of PRU stock opened at $96.79 on Tuesday. Prudential Financial, Inc. has a twelve month low of $90.38 and a twelve month high of $130.55. The company has a market capitalization of $34.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.96, a PEG ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.16 and a current ratio of 0.16. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $107.41 and its 200 day simple moving average is $116.68.

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

Prudential Financial Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 13th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th were given a dividend of $1.35 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $5.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.58%. This is a positive change from Prudential Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.30. Prudential Financial’s payout ratio is 72.29%.

Prudential Financial Company 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.