Wedmont Private Capital Boosts Holdings in Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU)

Wedmont Private Capital grew its stake in shares of Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU) by 3.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,622 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 106 shares during the period. Wedmont Private Capital’s holdings in Prudential Financial were worth $415,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC boosted its position in Prudential Financial by 1.2% during the third quarter. Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC now owns 7,357 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $891,000 after purchasing an additional 89 shares during the period. Daymark Wealth Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Prudential Financial by 3.9% in the 3rd quarter. Daymark Wealth Partners LLC now owns 2,616 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $317,000 after buying an additional 97 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. grew its stake in Prudential Financial by 2.7% in the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 3,660 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $443,000 after buying an additional 97 shares in the last quarter. Pure Financial Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Prudential Financial by 2.7% during the third quarter. Pure Financial Advisors LLC now owns 3,748 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $454,000 after acquiring an additional 97 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hardy Reed LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Prudential Financial by 1.6% in the third quarter. Hardy Reed LLC now owns 6,202 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $751,000 after acquiring an additional 98 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 56.83% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PRU has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Barclays increased their price objective on Prudential Financial from $119.00 to $129.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on shares of Prudential Financial from $121.00 to $127.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Bank of America increased their target price on shares of Prudential Financial from $109.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Prudential Financial from $117.00 to $115.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Evercore ISI raised Prudential Financial from an “underperform” rating to an “inline” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $117.00 to $140.00 in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has issued 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 $127.00.

Insider Transactions at Prudential Financial

In other Prudential Financial news, major shareholder Insurance Co Of Ame Prudential bought 537,249 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 25th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $27.92 per share, with a total value of $14,999,992.08. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider now directly owns 4,780,293 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $133,465,780.56. This trade represents a 12.66 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Prudential Financial Trading Up 2.1 %

Shares of PRU opened at $120.10 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 0.14 and a current ratio of 0.14. Prudential Financial, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $100.60 and a fifty-two week high of $130.55. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $122.38 and a 200-day moving average price of $120.67. The firm has a market cap of $42.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.68, a PEG ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 1.31.

Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $3.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.47 by $0.01. Prudential Financial had a return on equity of 15.30% and a net margin of 6.03%. The firm had revenue of $19.48 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.57 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $3.44 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Prudential Financial, Inc. will post 13.35 earnings per share for the current year.

Prudential Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 12th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 19th were paid a dividend of $1.30 per share. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.33%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, November 19th. Prudential Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 46.22%.

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.