WESPAC Advisors LLC Trims Stake in Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU)

WESPAC Advisors LLC reduced its position in shares of Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU) by 12.5% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 7,318 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,049 shares during the period. WESPAC Advisors LLC’s holdings in Prudential Financial were worth $867,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of PRU. AMF Tjanstepension AB increased its holdings in Prudential Financial by 12.5% during the 3rd quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 203,197 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $24,642,000 after purchasing an additional 22,588 shares during the period. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Prudential Financial by 5.7% during the 3rd quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 7,981 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $966,000 after purchasing an additional 427 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Prudential Financial by 4,130.8% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,298,257 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $157,219,000 after purchasing an additional 1,267,571 shares during the period. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC boosted its position in Prudential Financial by 6.1% during the 3rd quarter. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC now owns 3,837 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $465,000 after acquiring an additional 219 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its position in Prudential Financial by 21.1% during the 3rd quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 29,489 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,563,000 after acquiring an additional 5,129 shares in the last quarter. 56.83% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. Piper Sandler dropped their target price on Prudential Financial from $127.00 to $124.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. TD Cowen increased their target price on Prudential Financial from $130.00 to $133.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on Prudential Financial in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. They set an “underperform” rating and a $101.00 target price on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Prudential Financial from $113.00 to $118.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on Prudential Financial from $149.00 to $152.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $125.69.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, major shareholder Insurance Co Of Ame Prudential acquired 537,249 shares of Prudential Financial stock in a transaction on Monday, November 25th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $27.92 per share, for a total transaction of $14,999,992.08. Following the purchase, the insider now owns 4,780,293 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $133,465,780.56. This represents a 12.66 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.31% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Prudential Financial Stock Performance

Shares of PRU stock opened at $109.45 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $39.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 1.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 0.16 and a quick ratio of 0.16. The business has a fifty day moving average of $116.88 and a 200 day moving average of $119.71. Prudential Financial, Inc. has a 1 year low of $104.44 and a 1 year high of $130.55.

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

Prudential Financial Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be paid a $1.35 dividend. This is a positive change from Prudential Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.30. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $5.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.93%. Prudential Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 72.29%.

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.