Bank of Montreal Can Acquires 66,434 Shares of Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU)

Bank of Montreal Can lifted its stake in Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU) by 10.2% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 715,070 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 66,434 shares during the quarter. Bank of Montreal Can owned about 0.20% of Prudential Financial worth $86,388,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in PRU. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its stake in Prudential Financial by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 498,247 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $58,495,000 after purchasing an additional 2,001 shares in the last quarter. Bayesian Capital Management LP purchased a new position in Prudential Financial in the 1st quarter worth approximately $247,000. Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its position in Prudential Financial by 49.5% in the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 80,148 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $9,409,000 after acquiring an additional 26,520 shares in the last quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Prudential Financial by 3.9% during the 1st quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 25,121 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,949,000 after purchasing an additional 932 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Creekmur Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Prudential Financial by 78.8% in the first quarter. Creekmur Asset Management LLC now owns 245 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 108 shares during the last quarter. 56.83% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, major shareholder Insurance Co Of Ame Prudential purchased 261,059 shares of Prudential Financial stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 8th. The shares were bought at an average price of $27.58 per share, with a total value of $7,200,007.22. Following the purchase, the insider now directly owns 4,208,549 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $116,071,781.42. This represents a 6.61 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Caroline Feeney sold 1,110 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $119.97, for a total transaction of $133,166.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 10,175 shares in the company, valued at $1,220,694.75. This represents a 9.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently commented on PRU shares. Barclays lifted their price objective on Prudential Financial from $118.00 to $119.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Prudential Financial from $116.00 to $117.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Argus upgraded shares of Prudential Financial to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 8th. TD Cowen initiated coverage on shares of Prudential Financial in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. They set a “hold” rating and a $130.00 target price for the company. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on Prudential Financial from $121.00 to $127.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Prudential Financial currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $125.69.

Prudential Financial Stock Up 0.3 %

NYSE PRU opened at $129.11 on Wednesday. Prudential Financial, Inc. has a 52 week low of $94.92 and a 52 week high of $129.69. The company has a quick ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 0.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60. The company has a market capitalization of $45.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.91 and a beta of 1.29. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $123.72 and its 200-day moving average price is $119.89.

Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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. The company had revenue of $19.48 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.57 billion. Prudential Financial had a net margin of 6.03% and a return on equity of 15.30%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $3.44 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Prudential Financial, Inc. will post 13.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Prudential Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 19th will be issued a $1.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 19th. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.03%. Prudential Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 46.22%.

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.