Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio Increases Stock Holdings in Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU)

Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio raised its stake in Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU) by 9.9% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 150,700 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 13,621 shares during the period. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio’s holdings in Prudential Financial were worth $18,250,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of PRU. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Prudential Financial by 1.4% in the 2nd quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 7,554 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $885,000 after purchasing an additional 105 shares during the last quarter. Wedmont Private Capital grew its stake in shares of Prudential Financial by 17.4% in the 2nd quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 3,246 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $400,000 after purchasing an additional 481 shares during the last quarter. ORG Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Prudential Financial in the second quarter valued at approximately $156,000. PGGM Investments boosted its stake in shares of Prudential Financial by 98.0% in the second quarter. PGGM Investments now owns 64,277 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $7,533,000 after buying an additional 31,807 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SteelPeak Wealth LLC boosted its stake in shares of Prudential Financial by 192.0% in the second quarter. SteelPeak Wealth LLC now owns 10,165 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,191,000 after buying an additional 6,684 shares in the last quarter. 56.83% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Prudential Financial news, major shareholder Insurance Co Of Ame Prudential acquired 261,059 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 8th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $27.58 per share, with a total value 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 document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Prudential Financial Stock Performance

NYSE PRU opened at $121.24 on Wednesday. Prudential Financial, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $100.60 and a fifty-two week high of $130.55. The stock has a market cap of $43.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.91 and a beta of 1.29. The business has a fifty day moving average of $124.95 and a 200-day moving average of $120.43. The company has a quick ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 0.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60.

Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU) last released 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. 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.57 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $3.44 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Prudential Financial, Inc. will post 13.35 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Prudential Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 19th will be given a $1.30 dividend. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.29%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 19th. Prudential Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 46.22%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently weighed in on PRU. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on Prudential Financial from $123.00 to $122.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 19th. Bank of America lifted their price target on Prudential Financial from $109.00 to $118.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Barclays lifted their price target on Prudential Financial from $118.00 to $119.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on Prudential Financial from $130.00 to $133.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on Prudential Financial from $149.00 to $152.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $126.33.

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.