Arete Wealth Advisors LLC Acquires 1,754 Shares of Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU)

Arete Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU) by 16.5% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 12,364 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,754 shares during the quarter. Arete Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Prudential Financial were worth $1,465,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Avanza Fonder AB bought a new stake in shares of Prudential Financial during the 4th quarter worth $3,423,000. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC boosted its holdings in shares of 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 worth $2,607,000 after purchasing an additional 7,907 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Prudential Financial by 3.9% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 419,733 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $50,830,000 after buying an additional 15,695 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its stake in Prudential Financial by 2.3% in the third 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 in the last quarter. Finally, HighTower Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Prudential Financial by 18.7% during the third quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 69,542 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $8,395,000 after acquiring an additional 10,964 shares in the last quarter. 56.83% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PRU has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on Prudential Financial from $128.00 to $126.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on Prudential Financial from $149.00 to $152.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of Prudential Financial from $136.00 to $128.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on shares of Prudential Financial from $128.00 to $134.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Prudential Financial has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $126.08.

Prudential Financial Stock Performance

Prudential Financial stock opened at $104.65 on Friday. Prudential Financial, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $104.45 and a fifty-two week high of $130.55. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $112.45 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $118.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.16 and a current ratio of 0.16. The stock has a market cap of $37.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.01, a PEG ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 1.28.

Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The financial services provider reported $2.96 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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, analysts expect that Prudential Financial, Inc. will post 14.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Prudential Financial Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 13th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th were paid a dividend of $1.35 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $5.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.16%. This is a positive change from Prudential Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.30. Prudential Financial’s payout ratio is presently 72.29%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, major shareholder Insurance Co Of Ame Prudential bought 52,595 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 25th. The shares were purchased at an average cost 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 in the company, valued at approximately $3,992,429.24. The trade was a 60.18 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Andrew F. Sullivan sold 6,000 shares of Prudential Financial 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 completion of 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

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.