National Pension Service Grows Position in Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU)

National Pension Service raised its holdings in shares of Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU – Get Rating) by 3.3% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 656,840 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 20,866 shares during the quarter. National Pension Service owned about 0.18% of Prudential Financial worth $56,685,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Wagner Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Prudential Financial in the second quarter valued at about $26,000. Pacific Center for Financial Services purchased a new stake in shares of Prudential Financial in the second quarter valued at about $31,000. Exos TFP Holdings LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Prudential Financial in the third quarter valued at about $36,000. Fairfield Bush & CO. purchased a new stake in shares of Prudential Financial in the first quarter valued at about $36,000. Finally, Tsfg LLC grew its holdings in shares of Prudential Financial by 45.7% in the third quarter. Tsfg LLC now owns 459 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 144 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 56.33% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Prudential Financial

In other Prudential Financial news, EVP Andrew F. Sullivan sold 4,126 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $99.20, for a total value of $409,299.20. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 12,241 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,214,307.20. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, EVP Andrew F. Sullivan sold 4,126 shares of Prudential Financial stock in a transaction on Friday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $99.20, for a total transaction of $409,299.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 12,241 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,214,307.20. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Andrew F. Sullivan sold 11,405 shares of Prudential Financial stock in a transaction on Friday, February 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.95, for a total value of $1,151,334.75. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 12,300 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,241,685. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.31% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on PRU. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Prudential Financial from $98.00 to $105.00 in a report on Wednesday, November 16th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $106.00 target price on shares of Prudential Financial in a research note on Wednesday, February 8th. StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Prudential Financial in a research note on Thursday. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Prudential Financial from $97.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 13th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $110.00 price target on shares of Prudential Financial in a research report on Thursday, February 9th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and nine have issued a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Prudential Financial currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $103.00.

Prudential Financial Stock Performance

Shares of PRU opened at $80.16 on Thursday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $99.17 and its 200-day simple moving average is $99.12. Prudential Financial, Inc. has a 12-month low of $78.47 and a 12-month high of $122.54. The company has a current ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 0.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16. The firm has a market cap of $29.34 billion, a PE ratio of -20.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.57 and a beta of 1.41.

Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU – Get Rating) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 7th. The financial services provider reported $2.42 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.57 by ($0.15). Prudential Financial had a negative net margin of 2.33% and a positive return on equity of 13.31%. The firm had revenue of $12.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.78 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $3.18 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Prudential Financial, Inc. will post 12.2 EPS for the current year.

Prudential Financial declared that its board has initiated a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, February 7th that permits the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the financial services provider to reacquire up to 2.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Prudential Financial Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 16th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 21st will be issued a $1.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 17th. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.24%. This is an increase from Prudential Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.20. Prudential Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -126.90%.

About Prudential Financial

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Prudential Financial, Inc engages in the provision of insurance, investment management, and other financial products and services to both individual and institutional customers. It operates through the following segments: PGIM, U.S. Businesses, International Businesses, Closed Block, and Corporate and Others.