Bailard Inc. Purchases 998 Shares of Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU)

Bailard Inc. raised its position in shares of Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU) by 11.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 9,862 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 998 shares during the period. Bailard Inc.’s holdings in Prudential Financial were worth $1,023,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of PRU. FMR LLC raised its position in shares of Prudential Financial by 2.9% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,315,215 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $124,801,000 after buying an additional 36,599 shares in the last quarter. Czech National Bank raised its position in Prudential Financial by 46.8% during the third quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 63,444 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $6,020,000 after purchasing an additional 20,235 shares in the last quarter. Tyche Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Prudential Financial during the fourth quarter valued at about $815,000. Arvest Investments Inc. purchased a new stake in Prudential Financial during the fourth quarter valued at about $2,112,000. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its position in Prudential Financial by 14.5% during the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 268,728 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $25,500,000 after purchasing an additional 34,054 shares in the last quarter. 56.83% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Prudential Financial

In related news, SVP Timothy L. Schmidt sold 7,912 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $108.13, for a total value of $855,524.56. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 14,754 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,595,350.02. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, SVP Timothy L. Schmidt sold 7,912 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $108.13, for a total value of $855,524.56. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 14,754 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,595,350.02. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Ann M. Kappler sold 7,222 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $108.39, for a total value of $782,792.58. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 24,381 shares in the company, valued at $2,642,656.59. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 29,255 shares of company stock valued at $3,215,664. 0.31% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have weighed in on PRU. Raymond James downgraded Prudential Financial from a “strong-buy” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 9th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Prudential Financial from $109.00 to $117.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. UBS Group raised their price target on Prudential Financial from $108.00 to $112.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 12th. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on Prudential Financial from $114.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, April 5th. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on Prudential Financial from $115.00 to $116.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a report on Thursday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have given a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $111.42.

Prudential Financial Stock Performance

Prudential Financial stock opened at $110.50 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 0.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. The company has a market capitalization of $39.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.52, a PEG ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 1.37. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $111.75 and its 200 day moving average is $103.73. Prudential Financial, Inc. has a twelve month low of $77.22 and a twelve month high of $118.69.

Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 6th. The financial services provider reported $2.58 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.67 by ($0.09). The company had revenue of $13.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.99 billion. Prudential Financial had a return on equity of 14.52% and a net margin of 4.89%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.42 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Prudential Financial, Inc. will post 13.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Prudential Financial Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 14th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 20th were given a $1.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 16th. This is a boost from Prudential Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.25. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.71%. Prudential Financial’s dividend payout ratio is 77.73%.

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.