Hantz Financial Services Inc. Reduces Holdings in Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU)

Hantz Financial Services Inc. cut its holdings in Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU) by 3.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 76,328 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 2,460 shares during the period. Hantz Financial Services Inc.’s holdings in Prudential Financial were worth $9,243,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its stake in Prudential Financial by 4,130.8% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,298,257 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $157,219,000 after acquiring an additional 1,267,571 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Prudential Financial by 97.4% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 724,244 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $84,874,000 after buying an additional 357,300 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in Prudential Financial by 31.3% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,444,288 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $174,903,000 after buying an additional 344,254 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc increased its stake in Prudential Financial by 9.4% in 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 buying an additional 305,143 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital Advisors Inc. OK bought a new stake in Prudential Financial during the third quarter valued at about $30,226,000. Institutional investors own 56.83% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently issued reports on PRU. Evercore ISI raised Prudential Financial from an “underperform” rating to an “inline” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $117.00 to $140.00 in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Prudential Financial from $118.00 to $119.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Argus raised shares of Prudential Financial to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on shares of Prudential Financial from $121.00 to $127.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Bank of America raised their price objective on Prudential Financial from $109.00 to $118.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with 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, Prudential Financial presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $125.92.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Caroline Feeney sold 1,110 shares of Prudential Financial stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was 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 directly owns 10,175 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,220,694.75. This trade represents a 9.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, major shareholder Insurance Co Of Ame Prudential purchased 261,059 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 8th. The stock was bought at an average price of $27.58 per share, for a total transaction of $7,200,007.22. Following the completion of the acquisition, the insider now owns 4,208,549 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $116,071,781.42. The trade was a 6.61 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.31% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Prudential Financial Price Performance

Shares of Prudential Financial stock opened at $129.42 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $46.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.93 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 0.14 and a current ratio of 0.14. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $124.24 and a 200-day moving average price of $120.11. Prudential Financial, Inc. has a one year low of $96.45 and a one year high of $130.55.

Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $3.48 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.47 by $0.01. Prudential Financial had a net margin of 6.03% and a return on equity of 15.30%. The company had revenue of $19.48 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.57 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $3.44 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Prudential Financial, Inc. will post 13.35 EPS for the current year.

Prudential Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Investors 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 yield of 4.02%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 19th. Prudential Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.