Financial Counselors Inc. Decreases Stock Position in Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU)

Financial Counselors Inc. decreased its stake in shares of Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU - Free Report) by 2.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 124,345 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 3,159 shares during the period. Financial Counselors Inc.'s holdings in Prudential Financial were worth $14,739,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Prudential Financial by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 41,850,558 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $4,960,547,000 after purchasing an additional 220,671 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of Prudential Financial by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 17,007,013 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,059,549,000 after buying an additional 49,830 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Prudential Financial by 4.1% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,662,679 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,047,872,000 after acquiring an additional 341,787 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its holdings in Prudential Financial by 1.6% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 3,058,028 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $370,327,000 after acquiring an additional 47,561 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in Prudential Financial by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,454,278 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $290,906,000 after purchasing an additional 6,938 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 56.83% of the company's stock.

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Insider Activity

In other Prudential Financial news, EVP Andrew F. Sullivan sold 6,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.98, for a total transaction of $635,880.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 27,072 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,869,090.56. The trade was a 18.14 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Insurance Co Of Ame Prudential acquired 52,595 shares of Prudential Financial stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 25th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $28.52 per share, with a total value of $1,500,009.40. Following the completion of the acquisition, the insider now directly owns 139,987 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,992,429.24. The trade was a 60.18 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Company insiders own 0.31% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently weighed in on PRU. Piper Sandler cut their price objective on shares of Prudential Financial from $127.00 to $124.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Prudential Financial from $113.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. BMO Capital Markets began coverage on shares of Prudential Financial in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. They set an "underperform" rating and a $101.00 price objective for the company. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on 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 increased their target price on Prudential Financial from $128.00 to $134.00 and gave the stock 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 assigned a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $126.15.

Prudential Financial Price Performance

NYSE:PRU traded down $4.48 on Friday, hitting $109.94. The company had a trading volume of 2,326,712 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,538,419. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $113.09 and a two-hundred day moving average of $118.95. The stock has a market capitalization of $39.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.72, a PEG ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 1.28. Prudential Financial, Inc. has a 52 week low of $104.45 and a 52 week high of $130.55. The company has a current ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 0.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68.

Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The financial services provider reported $2.96 earnings per share 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%. On average, research analysts anticipate that Prudential Financial, Inc. will post 14.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Prudential Financial Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were paid a $1.35 dividend. This is an increase from Prudential Financial's previous quarterly dividend of $1.30. This represents a $5.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.91%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 18th. 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.