Arvest Investments Inc. Decreases Stake in Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU)

Arvest Investments Inc. reduced its stake in Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU) by 6.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 13,760 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 966 shares during the quarter. Arvest Investments Inc.’s holdings in Prudential Financial were worth $1,631,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its position in Prudential Financial by 176.8% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,041,420 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $123,804,000 after buying an additional 665,180 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Prudential Financial during the 4th quarter worth approximately $76,303,000. Amundi raised its position in Prudential Financial by 32.7% during the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 1,535,514 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $181,851,000 after buying an additional 378,266 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its position in Prudential Financial by 31.3% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,444,288 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $174,903,000 after buying an additional 344,254 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Prudential Financial by 4.1% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,662,679 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,047,872,000 after buying an additional 341,787 shares during the last quarter. 56.83% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently commented on PRU. Piper Sandler dropped their price objective on shares of Prudential Financial from $127.00 to $124.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. BMO Capital Markets began coverage on shares of Prudential Financial in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. They set an “underperform” rating and a $101.00 price objective on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on shares of Prudential Financial from $129.00 to $125.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Prudential Financial from $128.00 to $134.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on shares of Prudential Financial from $149.00 to $152.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Prudential Financial presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $126.15.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, major shareholder Insurance Co Of Ame Prudential purchased 87,047 shares of Prudential Financial stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 12th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $28.72 per share, with a total value of $2,499,989.84. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 87,047 shares in the company, valued at $2,499,989.84. This represents a ? increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Andrew F. Sullivan sold 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 owns 27,072 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,869,090.56. The trade was a 18.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.31% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Prudential Financial Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of PRU opened at $110.64 on Thursday. Prudential Financial, Inc. has a 52-week low of $104.45 and a 52-week high of $130.55. The company has a quick ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 0.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $113.81 and its two-hundred day moving average is $119.18. The stock has a market cap of $39.61 billion, a PE ratio of 14.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 1.28.

Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU) last announced its earnings results 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 return on equity of 15.86% and a net margin of 4.01%. Research analysts forecast that Prudential Financial, Inc. will post 14.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Prudential Financial Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were paid a dividend of $1.35 per share. This represents a $5.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.88%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 18th. This is a boost from Prudential Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.30. Prudential Financial’s payout ratio 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.