Foster & Motley Inc. Raises Stock Holdings in Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU)

Foster & Motley Inc. increased its position in Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU) by 36.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 44,041 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 11,791 shares during the quarter. Foster & Motley Inc.’s holdings in Prudential Financial were worth $4,567,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Cambridge Trust Co. grew its stake in Prudential Financial by 77.2% in the fourth quarter. Cambridge Trust Co. now owns 241 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 105 shares in the last quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC bought a new stake in Prudential Financial during the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Headinvest LLC bought a new stake in Prudential Financial during the 3rd quarter valued at $27,000. Arlington Trust Co LLC boosted its position in Prudential Financial by 151.6% during the 4th quarter. Arlington Trust Co LLC now owns 307 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 185 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kathleen S. Wright Associates Inc. bought a new stake in Prudential Financial during the 3rd quarter valued at $38,000. Institutional investors own 56.83% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have issued reports on PRU. Raymond James cut Prudential Financial from a “strong-buy” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $118.00 target price (down previously from $119.00) on shares of Prudential Financial in a research report on Wednesday, January 3rd. UBS Group increased their price objective on Prudential Financial from $108.00 to $112.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, February 12th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Prudential Financial from $100.00 to $106.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their price objective on Prudential Financial from $104.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have assigned a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Prudential Financial has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $111.33.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Andrew F. Sullivan sold 7,685 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $111.57, for a total transaction of $857,415.45. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 13,691 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,527,504.87. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, EVP Andrew F. Sullivan sold 7,685 shares of Prudential Financial stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $111.57, for a total value of $857,415.45. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 13,691 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,527,504.87. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Robert Axel sold 6,436 shares of Prudential Financial stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $111.86, for a total value of $719,930.96. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 7,901 shares in the company, valued at $883,805.86. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 29,255 shares of company stock worth $3,215,664 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Prudential Financial Stock Performance

Shares of PRU stock opened at $111.47 on Tuesday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $111.38 and a 200 day moving average of $103.36. The firm has a market capitalization of $40.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 1.37. Prudential Financial, Inc. has a 1 year low of $77.22 and a 1 year high of $118.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.13 and a quick ratio of 0.13.

Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 6th. The financial services provider reported $2.58 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.67 by ($0.09). The company had revenue of $13.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.99 billion. Prudential Financial had a net margin of 4.89% and a return on equity of 14.52%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.42 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Prudential Financial, Inc. will post 13.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Prudential Financial Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 20th were given a dividend of $1.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 16th. This is a boost from Prudential Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.25. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.66%. Prudential Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 77.73%.

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.