Valeo Financial Advisors LLC Raises Stock Position in Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU)

Valeo Financial Advisors LLC increased its stake in Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU) by 10.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,982 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 454 shares during the quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in Prudential Financial were worth $517,000 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. FMR LLC boosted its stake in shares of Prudential Financial by 2.9% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,315,215 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $124,801,000 after acquiring an additional 36,599 shares during the last quarter. Czech National Bank boosted its stake in shares of Prudential Financial by 46.8% during the 3rd quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 63,444 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $6,020,000 after acquiring an additional 20,235 shares during the last quarter. Arvest Investments Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Prudential Financial during the 4th quarter worth $2,112,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Prudential Financial by 14.5% during the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 268,728 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $25,500,000 after acquiring an additional 34,054 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AustralianSuper Pty Ltd raised its position in shares of Prudential Financial by 17.2% during the 4th quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd now owns 868,535 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $90,076,000 after purchasing an additional 127,772 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 56.83% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently commented on PRU. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Prudential Financial from $108.00 to $112.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 12th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Prudential Financial from $105.00 to $109.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 7th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Prudential Financial from $100.00 to $106.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of Prudential Financial from $104.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, TheStreet upgraded shares of Prudential Financial from a “c+” rating to an “a-” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 6th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have issued a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $110.67.

Prudential Financial Stock Performance

Prudential Financial stock opened at $109.69 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $111.04 and its 200-day moving average price is $102.62. Prudential Financial, Inc. has a twelve month low of $77.22 and a twelve month high of $118.69. The company has a quick ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 0.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. The company has a market cap of $39.38 billion, a PE ratio of 16.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.74 and a beta of 1.37.

Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU) last posted its 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). Prudential Financial had a return on equity of 14.52% and a net margin of 4.89%. The business had revenue of $13.02 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.99 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.42 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Prudential Financial, Inc. will post 13.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Prudential Financial Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 14th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 20th were paid a dividend of $1.30 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 16th. This is a boost from Prudential Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.25. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.74%. Prudential Financial’s payout ratio is currently 77.73%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Robert Axel sold 6,436 shares of Prudential Financial stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $111.86, for a total transaction of $719,930.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 7,901 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $883,805.86. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, SVP Robert Axel sold 6,436 shares of Prudential Financial stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $111.86, for a total transaction of $719,930.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 7,901 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $883,805.86. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Andrew F. Sullivan sold 7,685 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $111.57, for a total transaction of $857,415.45. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 13,691 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,527,504.87. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 29,255 shares of company stock valued at $3,215,664. Company insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

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.