Garden State Investment Advisory Services LLC Reduces Stock Position in Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU)

Garden State Investment Advisory Services LLC decreased its stake in Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU) by 6.5% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 2,239 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 155 shares during the quarter. Garden State Investment Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Prudential Financial were worth $272,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of PRU. Lynx Investment Advisory purchased a new stake in shares of Prudential Financial in the second quarter worth about $29,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Prudential Financial in the third quarter worth about $31,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC boosted its stake in shares of Prudential Financial by 1,312.4% in the second quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 26,934 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 25,027 shares during the last quarter. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Prudential Financial in the second quarter worth about $38,000. Finally, Tompkins Financial Corp boosted its stake in shares of Prudential Financial by 61.7% in the third quarter. Tompkins Financial Corp now owns 367 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $44,000 after buying an additional 140 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 56.83% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, major shareholder Insurance Co Of Ame Prudential bought 537,249 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 25th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $27.92 per share, with a total value of $14,999,992.08. Following the purchase, the insider now directly owns 4,780,293 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $133,465,780.56. This trade represents a 12.66 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently commented on PRU shares. Evercore ISI upgraded Prudential Financial from an “underperform” rating to an “inline” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $117.00 to $140.00 in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. UBS Group increased their price target on Prudential Financial from $112.00 to $119.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 13th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on Prudential Financial from $123.00 to $122.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 19th. Piper Sandler increased their price target on Prudential Financial from $121.00 to $127.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Bank of America increased their price target on Prudential Financial from $109.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $125.92.

Prudential Financial Trading Down 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE PRU opened at $128.42 on Tuesday. Prudential Financial, Inc. has a twelve month low of $96.87 and a twelve month high of $130.55. 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 fifty day simple moving average of $124.24 and a 200-day simple moving average of $120.12. The stock has a market capitalization of $45.72 billion, a PE ratio of 11.42, a PEG ratio of 0.93 and a beta of 1.29.

Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $3.48 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.47 by $0.01. Prudential Financial had a return on equity of 15.30% and a net margin of 6.03%. The business had revenue of $19.48 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.57 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $3.44 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Prudential Financial, Inc. will post 13.35 earnings per share for the current year.

Prudential Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 19th will be paid a dividend of $1.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 19th. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.05%. Prudential Financial’s payout ratio is 46.22%.

Prudential Financial 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.