Empirical Finance LLC Raises Stake in Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU)

Empirical Finance LLC lifted its stake in shares of Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU) by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 12,724 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 257 shares during the period. Empirical Finance LLC’s holdings in Prudential Financial were worth $1,541,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Creekmur Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Prudential Financial by 78.8% in the 1st quarter. Creekmur Asset Management LLC now owns 245 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 108 shares during the last quarter. Lynx Investment Advisory purchased a new position in Prudential Financial in the second quarter worth approximately $29,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in Prudential Financial in the third quarter valued at $31,000. Crewe Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Prudential Financial in the 1st quarter valued at $33,000. Finally, ESL Trust Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of Prudential Financial in the first quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 56.83% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of Prudential Financial from $123.00 to $122.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 19th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Prudential Financial from $116.00 to $117.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Barclays upped their price target on Prudential Financial from $118.00 to $119.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Prudential Financial from $109.00 to $118.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated a “market perform” rating and issued a $121.00 price objective on shares of Prudential Financial in a research note on Wednesday, August 21st. 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $125.69.

Insider Buying and Selling at Prudential Financial

In other Prudential Financial news, EVP Caroline Feeney sold 1,110 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $119.97, for a total transaction of $133,166.70. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 10,175 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,220,694.75. The trade was a 9.84 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Insurance Co Of Ame Prudential purchased 261,059 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 8th. The stock was bought at an average price of $27.58 per share, with a total value of $7,200,007.22. Following the acquisition, the insider now directly owns 4,208,549 shares in the company, valued at approximately $116,071,781.42. This represents a 6.61 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.31% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Prudential Financial Trading Up 1.3 %

Shares of PRU stock opened at $127.41 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $45.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 1.29. 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 business’s 50 day moving average is $122.20 and its two-hundred day moving average is $119.22. Prudential Financial, Inc. has a twelve month low of $93.32 and a twelve month high of $129.13.

Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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. The firm had revenue of $19.48 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.57 billion. Prudential Financial had a net margin of 6.03% and a return on equity of 15.30%. During the same period last year, the firm posted $3.44 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Prudential Financial, Inc. will post 13.33 EPS for the current year.

Prudential Financial Dividend Announcement

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 $1.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 19th. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.08%. Prudential Financial’s payout ratio is currently 46.22%.

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.