Sound Income Strategies LLC Purchases 2,516 Shares of Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU)

Sound Income Strategies LLC raised its position in shares of Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU) by 11.6% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 24,260 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 2,516 shares during the quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC’s holdings in Prudential Financial were worth $2,848,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Choreo LLC raised its stake in shares of Prudential Financial by 163.5% in the fourth quarter. Choreo LLC now owns 6,940 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $720,000 after buying an additional 4,306 shares during the period. FMR LLC raised its stake in Prudential Financial by 2.9% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,315,215 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $124,801,000 after acquiring an additional 36,599 shares during the period. Greenwood Capital Associates LLC purchased a new position in Prudential Financial during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,087,000. Crestline Management LP increased its stake in shares of Prudential Financial by 50.0% in the fourth quarter. Crestline Management LP now owns 60,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $6,223,000 after purchasing an additional 20,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nomura Holdings Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Prudential Financial during the 4th quarter valued at $761,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 56.83% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, major shareholder Insurance Co Of Ame Prudential bought 652,884 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 20th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $27.57 per share, for a total transaction of $18,000,011.88. Following the acquisition, the insider now directly owns 3,883,390 shares in the company, valued at approximately $107,065,062.30. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, SVP Timothy L. Schmidt sold 5,189 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $116.58, for a total transaction of $604,933.62. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 12,236 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,426,472.88. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Insurance Co Of Ame Prudential purchased 652,884 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 20th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $27.57 per share, with a total value of $18,000,011.88. Following the purchase, the insider now owns 3,883,390 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $107,065,062.30. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.31% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Prudential Financial Price Performance

Shares of NYSE PRU traded down $1.05 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $117.54. The company had a trading volume of 1,278,272 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,483,369. The firm has a market capitalization of $42.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 1.35. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $115.87 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $110.65. The company has a quick ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 0.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. Prudential Financial, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $85.04 and a fifty-two week high of $121.39.

Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The financial services provider reported $3.12 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.16 by ($0.04). Prudential Financial had a net margin of 3.76% and a return on equity of 15.50%. The firm had revenue of $15.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.50 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.66 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 69.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Prudential Financial, Inc. will post 13.41 earnings per share for the current year.

Prudential Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 13th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 21st were given a $1.30 dividend. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.42%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 20th. Prudential Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 88.44%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on PRU shares. Evercore ISI raised their target price on shares of Prudential Financial from $115.00 to $116.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on Prudential Financial from $112.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Prudential Financial from $100.00 to $106.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Piper Sandler dropped their target price on shares of Prudential Financial from $125.00 to $121.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, May 6th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Prudential Financial from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $121.00 to $143.00 in a report on Wednesday, May 22nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $115.25.

Prudential Financial 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.