WASHINGTON TRUST Co Has $84,000 Stock Position in Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU)

WASHINGTON TRUST Co lifted its holdings in shares of Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU) by 105.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 812 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 416 shares during the period. WASHINGTON TRUST Co’s holdings in Prudential Financial were worth $84,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Cornell Pochily Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Prudential Financial during the 4th quarter worth $211,000. Procyon Advisors LLC grew its position in Prudential Financial by 43.4% during the 4th quarter. Procyon Advisors LLC now owns 19,081 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,979,000 after acquiring an additional 5,776 shares during the last quarter. Abundance Wealth Counselors grew its position in Prudential Financial by 8.2% during the 4th quarter. Abundance Wealth Counselors now owns 8,107 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $841,000 after acquiring an additional 612 shares during the last quarter. Centennial Wealth Advisory LLC grew its position in Prudential Financial by 9.9% during the 4th quarter. Centennial Wealth Advisory LLC now owns 4,800 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $498,000 after acquiring an additional 432 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Prudential Financial by 89.4% in the 4th quarter. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,741 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $492,000 after buying an additional 2,238 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 56.83% of the company’s stock.

Prudential Financial Stock Up 0.3 %

PRU stock opened at $117.40 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $108.53 and its 200 day simple moving average is $101.15. Prudential Financial, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $77.22 and a fifty-two week high of $117.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.13 and a current ratio of 0.13. The company has a market cap of $42.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.36.

Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 6th. The financial services provider reported $2.58 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.67 by ($0.09). The firm had revenue of $13.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.99 billion. Prudential Financial had a return on equity of 14.52% and a net margin of 4.89%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.42 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Prudential Financial, Inc. will post 13.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Prudential Financial Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 20th were paid a $1.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 16th. This is an increase from Prudential Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.25. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.43%. Prudential Financial’s dividend payout ratio is 77.73%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have commented on PRU. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $118.00 price target (down previously from $119.00) on shares of Prudential Financial in a research report on Wednesday, January 3rd. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Prudential Financial from $105.00 to $109.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 7th. TheStreet upgraded Prudential Financial from a “c+” rating to an “a-” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 6th. UBS Group upped their target price on Prudential Financial from $108.00 to $112.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 12th. Finally, Raymond James lowered Prudential Financial from a “strong-buy” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have issued a hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Prudential Financial has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $105.60.

Insider Transactions at Prudential Financial

In other news, SVP Robert Axel sold 6,436 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $111.86, for a total value of $719,930.96. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 7,901 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $883,805.86. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, SVP Robert Axel sold 6,436 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $111.86, for a total value of $719,930.96. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 7,901 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $883,805.86. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Ann M. Kappler sold 7,222 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $108.39, for a total value of $782,792.58. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 24,381 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,642,656.59. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 29,255 shares of company stock valued at $3,215,664 over the last ninety days. 0.31% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.