Heritage Trust Co Buys Shares of 5,153 Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU)

Heritage Trust Co bought a new stake in Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 5,153 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $611,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Avanza Fonder AB acquired a new stake in Prudential Financial in the fourth quarter valued at $3,423,000. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC grew its holdings in 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 valued at $2,607,000 after buying an additional 7,907 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted 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 worth $50,830,000 after acquiring an additional 15,695 shares during the period. Asset Allocation & Management Company LLC acquired a new position in Prudential Financial during the fourth quarter worth approximately $209,000. Finally, Czech National Bank raised its stake in Prudential Financial by 6.1% during the fourth quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 77,188 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $9,149,000 after purchasing an additional 4,464 shares during the period. 56.83% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Prudential Financial news, major shareholder Insurance Co Of Ame Prudential bought 52,595 shares of Prudential Financial stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 25th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $28.52 per share, with a total value of $1,500,009.40. Following the acquisition, the insider now directly owns 139,987 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,992,429.24. The trade was a 60.18 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Andrew F. Sullivan sold 6,000 shares of the business's 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 27,072 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,869,090.56. This represents a 18.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.31% of the company's stock.

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Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PRU has been the topic of several research reports. BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on Prudential Financial in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. They issued an "underperform" rating and a $101.00 target price on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price objective on shares of Prudential Financial from $125.00 to $120.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. 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 research note on Friday, February 28th. Piper Sandler dropped their price target on Prudential Financial from $122.00 to $110.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Prudential Financial from $134.00 to $106.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 11th. One investment 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 company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $121.85.

Prudential Financial Stock Up 2.0 %

Shares of Prudential Financial stock traded up $1.96 during trading on Thursday, hitting $100.58. 615,130 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,595,843. The stock has a market cap of $35.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.48, a PEG ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $108.18 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $117.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.16 and a current ratio of 0.16. Prudential Financial, Inc. has a twelve month low of $90.38 and a twelve month high of $130.55.

Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The financial services provider reported $2.96 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.36 by ($0.40). Prudential Financial had a net margin of 4.01% and a return on equity of 15.86%. Equities research analysts predict that Prudential Financial, Inc. will post 14.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Prudential Financial Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 13th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th were paid a $1.35 dividend. This represents a $5.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.37%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 18th. This is a boost from Prudential Financial's previous quarterly dividend of $1.30. Prudential Financial's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.