Argent Trust Co Buys 281 Shares of Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU)

Argent Trust Co raised its holdings in Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU) by 1.5% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 19,451 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 281 shares during the quarter. Argent Trust Co’s holdings in Prudential Financial were worth $2,172,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Altman Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Prudential Financial by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Altman Advisors Inc. now owns 16,087 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,907,000 after acquiring an additional 94 shares in the last quarter. SPC Financial Inc. increased its position in shares of Prudential Financial by 2.6% during the 1st quarter. SPC Financial Inc. now owns 3,973 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $444,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC increased its position in shares of Prudential Financial by 3.8% during the 1st quarter. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC now owns 2,738 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $306,000 after purchasing an additional 101 shares during the last quarter. Principle Wealth Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Prudential Financial by 0.3% during the 1st quarter. Principle Wealth Partners LLC now owns 42,294 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,723,000 after purchasing an additional 109 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Prudential Financial by 90.2% during the 1st quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 234 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 111 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 56.83% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently issued reports on PRU. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on Prudential Financial from $117.00 to $113.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price target on Prudential Financial from $120.00 to $117.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Barclays raised their price target on Prudential Financial from $119.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Prudential Financial from $126.00 to $136.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, UBS Group cut their price objective on Prudential Financial from $122.00 to $110.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, May 27th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Prudential Financial presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $121.75.

Prudential Financial Trading Down 2.8%

PRU opened at $100.64 on Monday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $104.90 and its two-hundred day moving average is $107.24. The company has a market capitalization of $35.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.31, a PEG ratio of 0.93 and a beta of 1.07. Prudential Financial, Inc. has a 52 week low of $90.38 and a 52 week high of $130.55. The company has a quick ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 0.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60.

Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The financial services provider reported $3.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.22 by $0.36. The business had revenue of $13.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $13.47 billion. Prudential Financial had a return on equity of 15.80% and a net margin of 2.75%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $3.39 EPS. Analysts forecast that Prudential Financial, Inc. will post 14.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Prudential Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 12th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 20th were given a $1.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 20th. This represents a $5.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.4%. Prudential Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 119.73%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Prudential Financial

In other Prudential Financial news, major shareholder Insurance Co Of Ame Prudential acquired 1,675,978 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 16th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $28.64 per share, with a total value of $48,000,009.92. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 3,168,461 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $90,744,723.04. This trade represents a 112.29% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.25% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.