Howard Capital Management Inc. Has $238,000 Stake in Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU)

Howard Capital Management Inc. reduced its stake in shares of Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU) by 13.4% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 2,127 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 328 shares during the quarter. Howard Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Prudential Financial were worth $238,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 897,916 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in shares of Prudential Financial by 11,280.3% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 867,865 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $96,923,000 after buying an additional 860,239 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP boosted its stake in shares of Prudential Financial by 322.9% during the 4th quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 711,102 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $84,287,000 after acquiring an additional 542,964 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its stake in shares of Prudential Financial by 11.5% in the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 3,410,363 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $404,230,000 after acquiring an additional 352,335 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH bought a new stake in Prudential Financial during the fourth quarter valued at about $25,796,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 56.83% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, major shareholder Insurance Co Of Ame Prudential purchased 1,675,978 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 16th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $28.64 per share, with a total value of $48,000,009.92. Following the acquisition, the insider owned 3,168,461 shares in the company, valued at approximately $90,744,723.04. This trade represents a 112.29% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.25% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PRU has been the subject of several research reports. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Prudential Financial from $117.00 to $113.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on Prudential Financial from $116.00 to $113.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price on shares of Prudential Financial from $120.00 to $117.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. Barclays increased their target price on Prudential Financial from $119.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 17th. Finally, UBS Group cut their price objective on Prudential Financial from $122.00 to $110.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, May 27th. 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 issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $121.75.

Prudential Financial Stock Down 2.8%

PRU stock opened at $100.64 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 0.16 and a quick ratio of 0.17. The stock has a market capitalization of $35.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.31, a P/E/G ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 1.07. Prudential Financial, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $90.38 and a fifty-two week high of $130.55. The business has a 50-day moving average of $104.90 and a 200-day moving average of $107.40.

Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The financial services provider reported $3.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.22 by $0.36. The business had revenue of $13.50 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $13.47 billion. Prudential Financial had a net margin of 2.75% and a return on equity of 15.80%. Prudential Financial’s revenue was down 2.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $3.39 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Prudential Financial, Inc. will post 14.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Prudential Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 12th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 20th were issued a dividend of $1.35 per share. This represents a $5.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.4%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 20th. Prudential Financial’s payout ratio is currently 119.73%.

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.