Financial Counselors Inc. Reduces Holdings in Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU)

Financial Counselors Inc. decreased its holdings in Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU) by 0.4% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 127,504 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 469 shares during the quarter. Financial Counselors Inc.’s holdings in Prudential Financial were worth $15,441,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in PRU. Lynx Investment Advisory purchased a new position in Prudential Financial during the second quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new position in Prudential Financial during the third quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Bank & Trust Co purchased a new position in Prudential Financial during the second quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Prudential Financial during the second quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Finally, Tompkins Financial Corp lifted its holdings in Prudential Financial by 61.7% during the third quarter. Tompkins Financial Corp now owns 367 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 140 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 56.83% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have weighed in on PRU. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Prudential Financial from $118.00 to $119.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Prudential Financial from $123.00 to $122.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 19th. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on shares of Prudential Financial from $121.00 to $127.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Prudential Financial from $116.00 to $117.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, Argus upgraded shares of Prudential Financial to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Eleven investment 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’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $125.92.

Insider Buying and Selling at Prudential Financial

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

Prudential Financial Trading Up 0.3 %

PRU stock opened at $129.52 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 0.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60. Prudential Financial, Inc. has a twelve month low of $95.10 and a twelve month high of $130.55. The stock has a market capitalization of $46.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.91 and a beta of 1.29. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $123.93 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $119.96.

Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $3.48 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.47 by $0.01. Prudential Financial had a net margin of 6.03% and a return on equity of 15.30%. The business had revenue of $19.48 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.57 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $3.44 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Prudential Financial, Inc. will post 13.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Prudential Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 19th will be given a dividend of $1.30 per share. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.01%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 19th. Prudential Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.