Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp Lowers Position in Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU)

Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp decreased its holdings in Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU - Free Report) by 37.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 10,219 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 6,135 shares during the quarter. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp's holdings in Prudential Financial were worth $1,237,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new position in Prudential Financial in the third quarter valued at about $31,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC raised its holdings in Prudential Financial by 1,312.4% during the 2nd quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 26,934 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 25,027 shares during the period. Quarry LP lifted its stake in Prudential Financial by 376.3% in the third quarter. Quarry LP now owns 281 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 222 shares in the last quarter. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Prudential Financial during the second quarter worth $38,000. Finally, Tompkins Financial Corp raised its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 140 shares during the period. 56.83% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other Prudential Financial news, major shareholder Insurance Co Of Ame Prudential acquired 537,249 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, November 25th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $27.92 per share, with a total value of $14,999,992.08. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider now owns 4,780,293 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $133,465,780.56. This represents a 12.66 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 0.31% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PRU has been the subject of several recent research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed a "market perform" rating and set a $121.00 price objective on shares of Prudential Financial in a research report on Wednesday, August 21st. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Prudential Financial from $118.00 to $119.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Bank of America increased their target price on shares of Prudential Financial from $109.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on shares of Prudential Financial from $121.00 to $127.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Prudential Financial from an "underperform" rating to an "inline" rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $117.00 to $140.00 in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $126.33.

Prudential Financial Price Performance

Shares of PRU stock traded up $0.13 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $120.61. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,458,481 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,496,604. Prudential Financial, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $100.60 and a fifty-two week high of $130.55. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $124.99 and its 200-day simple moving average is $120.49. The company has a quick ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 0.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60. The company has a market capitalization of $42.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.71, a PEG ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 1.29.

Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $3.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.47 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $19.48 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations 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 posted $3.44 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Prudential Financial, Inc. will post 13.35 earnings per share for the current year.

Prudential Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 12th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 19th were paid a $1.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, November 19th. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.31%. Prudential Financial's dividend payout ratio is currently 46.22%.

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.