Quent Capital LLC Has $325,000 Holdings in Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU)

Quent Capital LLC grew its stake in Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU) by 5.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,138 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 172 shares during the quarter. Quent Capital LLC’s holdings in Prudential Financial were worth $325,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. acquired a new position in Prudential Financial during the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC acquired a new position in Prudential Financial during the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Headinvest LLC acquired a new position in Prudential Financial during the third quarter worth $27,000. Pacific Center for Financial Services acquired a new position in Prudential Financial during the first quarter worth $27,000. Finally, Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC acquired a new position in Prudential Financial during the second quarter worth $28,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 56.83% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Prudential Financial news, SVP Robert Axel sold 6,436 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $111.86, for a total transaction of $719,930.96. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 7,901 shares in the company, valued at $883,805.86. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other news, EVP Andrew F. Sullivan sold 7,685 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $111.57, for a total value of $857,415.45. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 13,691 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,527,504.87. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Robert Axel sold 6,436 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $111.86, for a total transaction of $719,930.96. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 7,901 shares in the company, valued at $883,805.86. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 29,255 shares of company stock worth $3,215,664 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Prudential Financial Stock Performance

NYSE:PRU traded up $0.38 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $117.40. 1,177,760 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,546,897. Prudential Financial, Inc. has a one year low of $77.22 and a one year high of $117.92. The firm has a market capitalization of $42.15 billion, a PE ratio of 17.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.36. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $108.84 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $101.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.13 and a current ratio of 0.13.

Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 6th. The financial services provider reported $2.58 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.67 by ($0.09). Prudential Financial had a return on equity of 14.52% and a net margin of 4.89%. The business had revenue of $13.02 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.99 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.42 earnings per share. Prudential Financial’s revenue was up 6.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Prudential Financial, Inc. will post 13.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Prudential Financial Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 20th were paid a dividend of $1.30 per share. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.43%. This is an increase from Prudential Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.25. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 16th. Prudential Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 77.73%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PRU has been the subject of several recent research reports. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Prudential Financial from $108.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, February 12th. Raymond James cut shares of Prudential Financial from a “strong-buy” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 9th. TheStreet upgraded shares of Prudential Financial from a “c+” rating to an “a-” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 6th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Prudential Financial from $105.00 to $109.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 7th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $118.00 price objective (down from $119.00) on shares of Prudential Financial in a research report on Wednesday, January 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have assigned a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Prudential Financial currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $105.60.

Prudential Financial 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.