Criterion Capital Advisors LLC Acquires Shares of 723 Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU)

Criterion Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 723 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $75,000.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. FMR LLC lifted its stake in shares of Prudential Financial by 2.9% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,315,215 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $124,801,000 after buying an additional 36,599 shares in the last quarter. Czech National Bank increased its holdings in shares of Prudential Financial by 46.8% in the 3rd quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 63,444 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $6,020,000 after purchasing an additional 20,235 shares in the last quarter. Tyche Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Prudential Financial in the fourth quarter worth $815,000. Arvest Investments Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Prudential Financial during the fourth quarter valued at $2,112,000. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in Prudential Financial by 14.5% in the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 268,728 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $25,500,000 after buying an additional 34,054 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 56.83% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Prudential Financial

In other news, SVP Timothy L. Schmidt sold 7,912 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $108.13, for a total value of $855,524.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 14,754 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,595,350.02. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, SVP Timothy L. Schmidt sold 7,912 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $108.13, for a total value of $855,524.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 14,754 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,595,350.02. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Andrew F. Sullivan sold 7,685 shares of the company’s 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 13,691 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,527,504.87. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 29,255 shares of company stock valued at $3,215,664 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on PRU. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on shares of Prudential Financial from $112.00 to $118.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Prudential Financial from $108.00 to $112.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 12th. Piper Sandler raised their price target on Prudential Financial from $114.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Raymond James cut Prudential Financial from a “strong-buy” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 9th. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their price objective on Prudential Financial from $104.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have assigned a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $111.33.

Prudential Financial Stock Performance

NYSE:PRU traded up $1.91 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $110.61. 1,470,960 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,228,978. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $111.30 and its 200-day moving average price is $103.14. Prudential Financial, Inc. has a one year low of $77.22 and a one year high of $118.69. The company has a quick ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 0.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. The firm has a market cap of $39.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 1.37.

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

Prudential Financial Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 20th were paid a $1.30 dividend. This is a positive change from Prudential Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.25. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 16th. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.70%. Prudential Financial’s dividend payout ratio is 77.73%.

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.