Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU) Shares Acquired by First Horizon Advisors Inc.

First Horizon Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU) by 4.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 162,685 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 6,641 shares during the quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Prudential Financial were worth $19,701,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Prudential Financial by 4,130.8% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,298,257 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $157,219,000 after purchasing an additional 1,267,571 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Prudential Financial by 97.4% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 724,244 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $84,874,000 after acquiring an additional 357,300 shares during the period. Swedbank AB bought a new position in shares of Prudential Financial during the first quarter valued at approximately $35,855,000. Legal & General Group Plc raised its position in shares of Prudential Financial by 9.4% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 3,542,400 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $415,134,000 after purchasing an additional 305,143 shares during the period. Finally, Capital Advisors Inc. OK bought a new stake in shares of Prudential Financial in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $30,226,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 56.83% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, major shareholder Insurance Co Of Ame Prudential purchased 261,059 shares of Prudential Financial stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 8th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $27.58 per share, for a total transaction of $7,200,007.22. Following the acquisition, the insider now directly owns 4,208,549 shares in the company, valued at $116,071,781.42. This represents a 6.61 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Caroline Feeney sold 1,110 shares of Prudential Financial stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $119.97, for a total transaction of $133,166.70. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 10,175 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,220,694.75. This trade represents a 9.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on PRU shares. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on Prudential Financial from $123.00 to $122.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 19th. Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of Prudential Financial from $109.00 to $118.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Prudential Financial from $112.00 to $119.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 13th. Evercore ISI upgraded Prudential Financial from an “underperform” rating to an “inline” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $117.00 to $140.00 in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Prudential Financial from $116.00 to $117.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Prudential Financial has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $125.69.

Prudential Financial Stock Down 1.7 %

PRU stock opened at $124.61 on Wednesday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $122.67 and its 200-day simple moving average is $119.53. Prudential Financial, Inc. has a 52-week low of $93.32 and a 52-week high of $129.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 0.14 and a quick ratio of 0.14. The firm has a market capitalization of $44.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.08, a P/E/G ratio of 0.91 and a beta of 1.29.

Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $3.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.47 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $19.48 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.57 billion. Prudential Financial had a return on equity of 15.30% and a net margin of 6.03%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $3.44 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Prudential Financial, Inc. will post 13.33 EPS for the current year.

Prudential Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 19th will be given a $1.30 dividend. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.17%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 19th. Prudential Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.