Procyon Advisors LLC Buys 9,308 Shares of Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU)

Procyon Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU) by 52.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 27,129 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 9,308 shares during the quarter. Procyon Advisors LLC’s holdings in Prudential Financial were worth $3,216,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in PRU. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 1,267,571 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its holdings in Prudential Financial by 176.8% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,041,420 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $123,804,000 after buying an additional 665,180 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Prudential Financial by 97.4% during 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 last quarter. FMR LLC grew its holdings in Prudential Financial by 31.3% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,444,288 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $174,903,000 after acquiring an additional 344,254 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Prudential Financial by 4.1% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,662,679 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,047,872,000 after acquiring an additional 341,787 shares in the last quarter. 56.83% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, major shareholder Insurance Co Of Ame Prudential purchased 537,249 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 25th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $27.92 per share, with a total value of $14,999,992.08. Following the acquisition, the insider now directly owns 4,780,293 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $133,465,780.56. This represents a 12.66 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have issued reports on PRU shares. Jefferies Financial Group boosted 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, December 10th. TD Cowen increased their price objective on shares of Prudential Financial from $130.00 to $133.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Prudential Financial from $117.00 to $115.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective on Prudential Financial from $135.00 to $129.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on Prudential Financial from $119.00 to $129.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Prudential Financial currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $127.42.

Prudential Financial Stock Performance

NYSE:PRU opened at $118.47 on Friday. Prudential Financial, Inc. has a 52-week low of $100.60 and a 52-week high of $130.55. The business’s fifty day moving average is $122.23 and its 200 day moving average is $120.66. 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 firm has a market cap of $42.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.53, a PEG ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 1.31.

Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $3.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.47 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $19.48 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.57 billion. Prudential Financial had a net margin of 6.03% and a return on equity of 15.30%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $3.44 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Prudential Financial, Inc. will post 13.34 EPS for the current year.

Prudential Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 12th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 19th were given a dividend of $1.30 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, November 19th. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.39%. Prudential Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 46.22%.

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.