Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU) Shares Purchased by Gallagher Fiduciary Advisors LLC

Gallagher Fiduciary Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU) by 17.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,165 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 604 shares during the quarter. Gallagher Fiduciary Advisors LLC’s holdings in Prudential Financial were worth $494,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Prudential Financial by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 41,850,558 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,960,547,000 after acquiring an additional 220,671 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Prudential Financial by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,856,360 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,050,635,000 after purchasing an additional 193,681 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in Prudential Financial by 23.7% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 4,686,690 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $555,513,000 after buying an additional 897,916 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in Prudential Financial by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,454,278 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $290,906,000 after buying an additional 6,938 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Prudential Financial by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,409,521 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $285,601,000 after buying an additional 26,210 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 56.83% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on PRU shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of Prudential Financial from $128.00 to $126.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Prudential Financial from $134.00 to $106.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 11th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price target on Prudential Financial from $125.00 to $120.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Piper Sandler decreased their price objective on Prudential Financial from $110.00 to $109.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Finally, UBS Group dropped their target price on Prudential Financial from $130.00 to $122.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Prudential Financial has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $121.77.

Prudential Financial Stock Up 1.8 %

PRU stock opened at $103.60 on Friday. Prudential Financial, Inc. has a 52 week low of $90.38 and a 52 week high of $130.55. The company has a current ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 0.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. The company has a market cap of $36.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.87, a P/E/G ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 1.11. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $105.88 and its 200 day moving average price is $115.51.

Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The financial services provider reported $3.29 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.18 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $13.61 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.76 billion. Prudential Financial had a return on equity of 15.86% and a net margin of 4.01%. Prudential Financial’s quarterly revenue was down 38.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $3.12 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Prudential Financial, Inc. will post 14.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Prudential Financial Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 13th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th were paid a $1.35 dividend. This represents a $5.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.21%. This is a boost from Prudential Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.30. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 18th. Prudential Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 72.29%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, major shareholder Insurance Co Of Ame Prudential acquired 52,595 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 25th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $28.52 per share, for a total transaction of $1,500,009.40. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 139,987 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,992,429.24. This trade represents a 60.18 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Andrew F. Sullivan sold 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.98, for a total value of $635,880.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 27,072 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,869,090.56. This trade represents a 18.14 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.25% of the stock is currently owned by company 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.