Live Oak Investment Partners Invests $622,000 in Prudential Financial, Inc. $PRU

Live Oak Investment Partners bought a new position in shares of Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 6,555 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $622,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Prudential Financial during the second quarter valued at about $122,778,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Prudential Financial by 1.4% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 42,502,160 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,566,432,000 after acquiring an additional 600,482 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its holdings in Prudential Financial by 49.2% in the 2nd quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,720,781 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $184,192,000 after acquiring an additional 567,571 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP bought a new stake in shares of Prudential Financial in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $40,552,000. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board grew its holdings in shares of Prudential Financial by 209.2% during the 2nd quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 520,025 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $55,871,000 after purchasing an additional 351,849 shares in the last quarter. 56.83% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Prudential Financial Trading Down 4.0%

Shares of Prudential Financial stock opened at $111.76 on Tuesday. Prudential Financial, Inc. has a 12-month low of $90.38 and a 12-month high of $123.88. The stock has a market capitalization of $39.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $112.19 and a 200 day simple moving average of $107.21. The company has a quick ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 0.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58.

Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The financial services provider reported $4.26 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.72 by $0.54. The firm had revenue of $17.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.77 billion. Prudential Financial had a net margin of 4.65% and a return on equity of 16.60%. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $3.48 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Prudential Financial, Inc. will post 14.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Prudential Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 11th. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 18th were given a dividend of $1.35 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, November 18th. This represents a $5.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.8%. Prudential Financial’s dividend payout ratio is 74.18%.

Insider Activity at Prudential Financial

In other news, EVP Caroline Feeney sold 6,555 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $116.28, for a total transaction of $762,215.40. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 22,523 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,618,974.44. This represents a 22.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Chairman Charles F. Lowrey sold 48,164 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $107.39, for a total value of $5,172,331.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman owned 165,564 shares in the company, valued at $17,779,917.96. The trade was a 22.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 62,719 shares of company stock valued at $6,796,067 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. UBS Group upped their target price on Prudential Financial from $111.00 to $116.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 8th. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on shares of Prudential Financial from $110.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 23rd. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Prudential Financial from $120.00 to $117.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Prudential Financial from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, January 10th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on shares of Prudential Financial from $117.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, November 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $118.80.

About Prudential Financial

Prudential Financial, Inc, headquartered in Newark, New Jersey, is a diversified financial services company with roots dating to 1875. The firm provides a range of insurance, retirement and investment products aimed at helping individual and institutional clients manage risk, accumulate and protect wealth, and plan for retirement. Prudential’s long history in life insurance and related financial services has positioned it as a major participant in the U.S. insurance market and a provider of services to a broad client base.

Prudential’s core business activities include individual life insurance, annuities, retirement solutions and group insurance products for employers.