OneAscent Financial Services LLC Makes New $222,000 Investment in Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU)

OneAscent Financial Services LLC purchased a new position in Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 1,870 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $222,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of PRU. Avanza Fonder AB bought a new stake in shares of Prudential Financial during the fourth quarter worth $3,423,000. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC boosted its position in Prudential Financial by 56.1% in the 4th quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC now owns 21,998 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,607,000 after buying an additional 7,907 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake 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 acquiring an additional 15,695 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its position in shares of Prudential Financial by 2.3% during the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 79,256 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $9,597,000 after acquiring an additional 1,765 shares during the period. Finally, HighTower Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 10,964 shares during the period. 56.83% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Prudential Financial Stock Down 8.1 %

Shares of PRU stock opened at $96.27 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $112.03 and its 200 day moving average price is $118.63. Prudential Financial, Inc. has a 1-year low of $95.73 and a 1-year high of $130.55. The company has a market cap of $34.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 0.16 and a quick ratio of 0.16.

Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The financial services provider reported $2.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.36 by ($0.40). Prudential Financial had a net margin of 4.01% and a return on equity of 15.86%. On average, research analysts expect that Prudential Financial, Inc. will post 14.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Prudential Financial Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were issued a dividend of $1.35 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 18th. This is a positive change from Prudential Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.30. This represents a $5.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.61%. Prudential Financial’s payout ratio is 72.29%.

Insider Activity at Prudential Financial

In other news, EVP Andrew F. Sullivan sold 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.98, for a total value of $635,880.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 27,072 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,869,090.56. This represents a 18.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Insurance Co Of Ame Prudential acquired 52,595 shares of Prudential Financial stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 25th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $28.52 per share, with a total value of $1,500,009.40. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider now owns 139,987 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,992,429.24. The trade was a 60.18 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.31% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PRU has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on Prudential Financial from $149.00 to $152.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price objective on shares of Prudential Financial from $129.00 to $125.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Prudential Financial from $128.00 to $134.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Prudential Financial from $113.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, Piper Sandler cut their price objective on shares of Prudential Financial from $124.00 to $122.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $126.08.

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.