Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. Acquires 151,710 Shares of Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU)

Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. grew its holdings in Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU - Free Report) by 241.8% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 214,456 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 151,710 shares during the period. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. owned 0.06% of Prudential Financial worth $25,971,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Prudential Financial in the third quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Prudential Financial during the second quarter worth approximately $38,000. Tompkins Financial Corp increased its stake in shares of Prudential Financial by 61.7% during the third quarter. Tompkins Financial Corp now owns 367 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $44,000 after purchasing an additional 140 shares during the period. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 266 shares during the period. Finally, Opal Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Prudential Financial during the second quarter worth approximately $45,000. 56.83% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, major shareholder Insurance Co Of Ame Prudential purchased 261,059 shares of Prudential Financial stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 8th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $27.58 per share, for a total transaction of $7,200,007.22. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 4,208,549 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $116,071,781.42. This represents a 6.61 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated a "market perform" rating and set a $121.00 target price on shares of Prudential Financial in a research note on Wednesday, August 21st. Barclays increased their target price on Prudential Financial from $118.00 to $119.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on Prudential Financial from $121.00 to $127.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Evercore ISI upgraded Prudential Financial from an "underperform" rating to an "inline" rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $117.00 to $140.00 in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price objective on Prudential Financial from $112.00 to $119.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 13th. Eleven 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 company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $125.92.

Prudential Financial Price Performance

Shares of Prudential Financial stock traded down $1.58 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $125.57. 347,917 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,490,413. The company has a market cap of $44.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.21, a PEG ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.29. Prudential Financial, Inc. has a 1-year low of $97.70 and a 1-year high of $130.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 0.14 and a current ratio of 0.14. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $124.54 and its 200 day moving average price is $120.22.

Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 business had revenue of $19.48 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 company posted $3.44 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Prudential Financial, Inc. will post 13.35 earnings per share for the current year.

Prudential Financial Announces Dividend

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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 19th. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.14%. Prudential Financial's dividend 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.