Busey Bank Purchases New Stake in Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU)

Busey Bank acquired a new position in shares of Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm acquired 1,781 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $211,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Strategic Blueprint LLC grew its stake in Prudential Financial by 57.8% in the 4th quarter. Strategic Blueprint LLC now owns 3,075 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $364,000 after buying an additional 1,126 shares during the last quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. grew its position in shares of Prudential Financial by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 205,595 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $24,369,000 after purchasing an additional 3,235 shares during the last quarter. Asset Dedication LLC increased its stake in shares of Prudential Financial by 28.4% during the fourth quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 420 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $50,000 after purchasing an additional 93 shares during the period. Orca Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Prudential Financial in the 4th quarter valued at $3,424,000. Finally, Perigon Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Prudential Financial by 4.8% in the 4th quarter. Perigon Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,455 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $646,000 after buying an additional 249 shares in the last quarter. 56.83% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. BMO Capital Markets started coverage on shares of Prudential Financial in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $101.00 target price for the company. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Prudential Financial from an “underperform” rating to an “inline” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $117.00 to $140.00 in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Bank of America boosted their price target on Prudential Financial from $109.00 to $118.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Piper Sandler lowered their price objective on Prudential Financial from $127.00 to $124.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, TD Cowen increased their target price on Prudential Financial from $130.00 to $133.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Prudential Financial presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $125.31.

Prudential Financial Price Performance

Prudential Financial stock opened at $121.89 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $43.39 billion, a PE ratio of 10.83, a P/E/G ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 1.31. The company has a current ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 0.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $121.04 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $120.66. Prudential Financial, Inc. has a 12 month low of $100.60 and a 12 month high of $130.55.

Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $3.48 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.47 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $19.48 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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. Analysts expect that Prudential Financial, Inc. will post 13.24 EPS for the current year.

Prudential Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 12th. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 19th were paid a $1.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, November 19th. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.27%. Prudential Financial’s dividend payout ratio is 46.22%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, major shareholder Insurance Co Of Ame Prudential purchased 537,249 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 25th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $27.92 per share, for a total transaction of $14,999,992.08. Following the acquisition, the insider now owns 4,780,293 shares in the company, valued at $133,465,780.56. This trade 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 at the SEC website. 0.31% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Prudential Financial Company 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.