Procyon Advisors LLC Buys 9,308 Shares of Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU)

Procyon Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU) by 52.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 27,129 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 9,308 shares during the period. Procyon Advisors LLC’s holdings in Prudential Financial were worth $3,216,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Glenmede Trust Co. NA raised its holdings in Prudential Financial by 7.4% during the 3rd quarter. Glenmede Trust Co. NA now owns 17,968 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,176,000 after buying an additional 1,234 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Prudential Financial by 3.9% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 419,733 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $50,830,000 after buying an additional 15,695 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its position in shares of Prudential Financial by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 79,256 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $9,597,000 after buying an additional 1,765 shares during the last quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in Prudential Financial by 4.3% in the third quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 162,685 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $19,701,000 after acquiring an additional 6,641 shares during the period. Finally, HighTower Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Prudential Financial by 18.7% in the third quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 69,542 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $8,395,000 after acquiring an additional 10,964 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 56.83% of the company’s stock.

Prudential Financial Trading Down 1.3 %

Shares of NYSE:PRU opened at $118.47 on Friday. Prudential Financial, Inc. has a 12-month low of $100.60 and a 12-month high of $130.55. The company has a market cap of $42.17 billion, a PE ratio of 10.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 1.31. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $122.23 and a 200 day moving average of $120.66. The company has a current ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 0.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60.

Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $3.48 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.47 by $0.01. Prudential Financial had a net margin of 6.03% and a return on equity of 15.30%. The company had revenue of $19.48 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.57 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $3.44 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Prudential Financial, Inc. will post 13.34 EPS for the current year.

Prudential Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 12th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 19th were paid a $1.30 dividend. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.39%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, November 19th. Prudential Financial’s payout ratio is 46.22%.

Insider Transactions at Prudential Financial

In other Prudential Financial news, major shareholder Insurance Co Of Ame Prudential bought 537,249 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 25th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $27.92 per share, for a total transaction of $14,999,992.08. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 4,780,293 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of Prudential Financial from $117.00 to $115.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. Evercore ISI raised Prudential Financial from an “underperform” rating to an “inline” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $117.00 to $140.00 in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Prudential Financial from $119.00 to $129.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on shares of Prudential Financial from $149.00 to $152.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, TD Cowen lifted their target price 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. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $127.42.

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.