HighTower Advisors LLC Purchases 10,964 Shares of Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU)

HighTower Advisors LLC lifted its position in Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU - Free Report) by 18.7% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 69,542 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 10,964 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC's holdings in Prudential Financial were worth $8,395,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of PRU. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new position in shares of Prudential Financial during the third quarter valued at $31,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC grew its stake in 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 valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 25,027 shares in the last quarter. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Prudential Financial in the second quarter valued at about $38,000. Tompkins Financial Corp grew its stake in Prudential Financial by 61.7% in the third quarter. Tompkins Financial Corp now owns 367 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 140 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MFA Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Prudential Financial in the second quarter valued at about $45,000. Institutional investors own 56.83% of the company's stock.

Prudential Financial Stock Down 3.2 %

Shares of NYSE PRU traded down $4.00 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $122.56. The company had a trading volume of 1,658,774 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,494,889. The company has a market capitalization of $43.63 billion, a PE ratio of 10.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.91 and a beta of 1.29. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $124.95 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $120.43. 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, Inc. has a one year low of $100.60 and a one year high of $130.55.

Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $3.48 earnings per share 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 in the previous year, the business earned $3.44 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Prudential Financial, Inc. will post 13.35 EPS for the current year.

Prudential Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 19th will be issued a dividend of $1.30 per share. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.24%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 19th. Prudential Financial's dividend payout ratio is presently 46.22%.

Insider Transactions at Prudential Financial

In other news, major shareholder Insurance Co Of Ame Prudential acquired 261,059 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 8th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $27.58 per share, for a total transaction of $7,200,007.22. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 4,208,549 shares in the company, valued at approximately $116,071,781.42. This trade represents a 6.61 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PRU has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated a "market perform" rating and issued a $121.00 target price on shares of Prudential Financial in a research note on Wednesday, August 21st. Bank of America boosted 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. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Prudential Financial from $116.00 to $117.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. UBS Group boosted 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. Finally, TD Cowen boosted their price target on Prudential Financial from $130.00 to $133.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $125.42.

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.