Arvest Bank Trust Division Buys Shares of 18,944 Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU)

Arvest Bank Trust Division bought a new stake in shares of Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU - Free Report) during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 18,944 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $2,294,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Prudential Financial during the third quarter worth about $31,000. Quarry LP raised its holdings in shares of Prudential Financial by 376.3% during the third quarter. Quarry LP now owns 281 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 222 shares during the last quarter. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Prudential Financial during the 2nd quarter valued at about $38,000. 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. Finally, GHP Investment Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Prudential Financial by 235.4% during the third quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 379 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $46,000 after acquiring an additional 266 shares during the period. 56.83% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Prudential Financial news, major shareholder Insurance Co Of Ame Prudential acquired 261,059 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 8th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $27.58 per share, with a total value of $7,200,007.22. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 4,208,549 shares of the company's stock, valued at $116,071,781.42. This trade represents a 6.61 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.34% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Prudential Financial from $116.00 to $117.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Evercore ISI raised Prudential Financial from an "underperform" rating to an "inline" rating and raised their price objective for the company from $117.00 to $140.00 in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on Prudential Financial from $149.00 to $152.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Prudential Financial from $118.00 to $119.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Prudential Financial from $123.00 to $122.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 19th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $126.33.

Prudential Financial Price Performance

PRU stock traded up $0.54 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $120.61. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,528,112 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,497,050. The stock has a market cap of $42.94 billion, a PE ratio of 10.67, a P/E/G ratio of 0.91 and a beta of 1.29. The company's 50 day moving average is $125.01 and its two-hundred day moving average is $120.44. Prudential Financial, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $100.60 and a fifty-two week 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.

Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $3.48 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.47 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $19.48 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.57 billion. Prudential Financial had a return on equity of 15.30% and a net margin of 6.03%. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $3.44 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Prudential Financial, Inc. will post 13.35 EPS for the current year.

Prudential Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 19th will be given a dividend of $1.30 per share. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.31%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 19th. Prudential Financial's payout ratio is currently 46.22%.

Prudential Financial Company 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.