D.A. Davidson & CO. Has $11.57 Million Stock Position in Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU)

D.A. Davidson & CO. lifted its position in Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU) by 0.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 97,591 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 352 shares during the quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO.’s holdings in Prudential Financial were worth $11,568,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of PRU. AMF Tjanstepension AB lifted its stake in shares of Prudential Financial by 12.5% in the third quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 203,197 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $24,642,000 after buying an additional 22,588 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. raised its stake in Prudential Financial by 90.4% during the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 4,843 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $567,000 after purchasing an additional 2,300 shares during the last quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC raised its stake in Prudential Financial by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 279,890 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $33,895,000 after purchasing an additional 2,569 shares during the last quarter. Venture Visionary Partners LLC raised its stake in Prudential Financial by 2.6% during the 3rd quarter. Venture Visionary Partners LLC now owns 27,056 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,277,000 after purchasing an additional 673 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Foundations Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in Prudential Financial by 32.8% during the 3rd quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 5,235 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $634,000 after purchasing an additional 1,294 shares during the last quarter. 56.83% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently commented on PRU. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on shares of Prudential Financial from $149.00 to $152.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their target price on shares of Prudential Financial from $129.00 to $125.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. TD Cowen boosted their price target on shares of Prudential Financial from $130.00 to $133.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. Piper Sandler lowered their price target on shares of Prudential Financial from $127.00 to $124.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on shares of Prudential Financial in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $101.00 price target on the stock. One 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’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Prudential Financial has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $125.46.

Prudential Financial Stock Up 0.1 %

PRU opened at $111.71 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $117.65 and its 200-day simple moving average is $119.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.14 and a current ratio of 0.16. Prudential Financial, Inc. has a twelve month low of $104.44 and a twelve month high of $130.55. The firm has a market cap of $39.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.95, a PEG ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 1.31.

Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The financial services provider reported $2.96 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.36 by ($0.40). Prudential Financial had a return on equity of 15.86% and a net margin of 4.01%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Prudential Financial, Inc. will post 14.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Prudential Financial Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be given a dividend of $1.35 per share. This is an increase from Prudential Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.30. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $5.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.83%. Prudential Financial’s dividend payout ratio is 69.61%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, major shareholder Insurance Co Of Ame Prudential purchased 537,249 shares of Prudential Financial stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 25th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $27.92 per share, for a total transaction of $14,999,992.08. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 4,780,293 shares in the company, valued at approximately $133,465,780.56. This represents a 12.66 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.31% of the stock is owned by corporate 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.