Royal London Asset Management Ltd. Purchases 8,431 Shares of Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU)

Royal London Asset Management Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU - Free Report) by 5.3% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 167,752 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 8,431 shares during the quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd.'s holdings in Prudential Financial were worth $20,315,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Park Avenue Securities LLC lifted its stake in shares of Prudential Financial by 1.4% in the 2nd quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 7,424 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $870,000 after acquiring an additional 103 shares during the period. CWM LLC lifted its position in Prudential Financial by 13.3% in the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 13,036 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,528,000 after purchasing an additional 1,527 shares during the period. OLD National Bancorp IN increased its position in Prudential Financial by 1.7% during the 2nd quarter. OLD National Bancorp IN now owns 5,941 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $696,000 after purchasing an additional 98 shares during the period. Capital Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Prudential Financial by 36.8% during the 2nd quarter. Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,393 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $398,000 after buying an additional 913 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Opal Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Prudential Financial in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $45,000. 56.83% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have issued reports on PRU. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated a "market perform" rating and issued a $121.00 price objective on shares of Prudential Financial in a research report on Wednesday, August 21st. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Prudential Financial from an "underperform" rating to an "inline" rating and increased their price target for the company from $117.00 to $140.00 in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Prudential Financial from $118.00 to $119.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Prudential Financial from $116.00 to $117.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, 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 note on Tuesday, August 13th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $125.92.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Prudential Financial news, major shareholder Insurance Co Of Ame Prudential acquired 537,249 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 25th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $27.92 per share, for a total transaction of $14,999,992.08. Following the completion of the acquisition, the insider now owns 4,780,293 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $133,465,780.56. This trade represents a 12.66 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.31% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Prudential Financial Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:PRU traded down $0.73 on Friday, hitting $126.56. The company had a trading volume of 1,391,124 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,412,572. Prudential Financial, Inc. has a 52-week low of $98.24 and a 52-week high of $130.55. The business has a 50 day moving average of $124.80 and a 200 day moving average of $120.31. The company has a current ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 0.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60. The company has a market cap of $45.06 billion, a PE ratio of 11.25, a PEG ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 1.29.

Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $3.48 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.47 by $0.01. Prudential Financial had a return on equity of 15.30% and a net margin of 6.03%. The company had revenue of $19.48 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.57 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $3.44 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Prudential Financial, Inc. will post 13.35 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Prudential Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 19th will be paid a $1.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 19th. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.11%. Prudential Financial's payout ratio is 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.