MidWestOne Financial Group Inc. Reduces Holdings in Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU)

MidWestOne Financial Group Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU) by 5.2% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 2,655 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 145 shares during the period. MidWestOne Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Prudential Financial were worth $322,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new position in Prudential Financial during the third quarter worth $31,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC boosted its stake in Prudential Financial by 1,312.4% during the second quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 26,934 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 25,027 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP boosted its stake in Prudential Financial by 376.3% during the third quarter. Quarry LP now owns 281 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 222 shares during the last quarter. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Prudential Financial during the second quarter worth $38,000. Finally, Tompkins Financial Corp boosted its stake in Prudential Financial by 61.7% during the third quarter. Tompkins Financial Corp now owns 367 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $44,000 after buying an additional 140 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 56.83% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Prudential Financial

In other news, major shareholder Insurance Co Of Ame Prudential bought 261,059 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 8th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $27.58 per share, with a total value of $7,200,007.22. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 4,208,549 shares in the company, valued at $116,071,781.42. This trade represents a 6.61 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Prudential Financial Trading Down 1.1 %

PRU opened at $121.24 on Wednesday. Prudential Financial, Inc. has a one year low of $100.60 and a one year high of $130.55. The company has a market cap of $43.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.78, a PEG ratio of 0.91 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 business’s 50-day simple moving average is $124.95 and its 200-day simple moving average is $120.43.

Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $3.48 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.47 by $0.01. Prudential Financial had a return on equity of 15.30% and a net margin of 6.03%. The business had revenue of $19.48 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.57 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $3.44 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Prudential Financial, Inc. will post 13.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Prudential Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 19th. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.29%. Prudential Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 46.22%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently commented on PRU shares. UBS Group upped their price target on 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 raised Prudential Financial from an “underperform” rating to an “inline” rating and upped their price target for the company from $117.00 to $140.00 in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Bank of America upped their price target on Prudential Financial from $109.00 to $118.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on Prudential Financial from $149.00 to $152.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and issued a $121.00 price target on shares of Prudential Financial in a research note on Wednesday, August 21st. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $126.33.

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.