Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC Boosts Holdings in Prudential Financial, Inc. $PRU

Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU) by 24.8% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 68,729 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 13,653 shares during the period. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC’s holdings in Prudential Financial were worth $7,130,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Chilton Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Prudential Financial by 146.5% during the 3rd quarter. Chilton Capital Management LLC now owns 350 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 208 shares during the period. Darwin Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Prudential Financial during the second quarter worth about $36,000. AlphaCore Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Prudential Financial in the 2nd quarter worth about $39,000. Capital A Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Prudential Financial by 4,600.0% during the 2nd quarter. Capital A Wealth Management LLC now owns 376 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 368 shares during the period. Finally, Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in Prudential Financial in the second quarter valued at approximately $51,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 56.83% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Prudential Financial

In related news, SVP Timothy L. Schmidt sold 8,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $107.69, for a total value of $861,520.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 11,535 shares in the company, valued at $1,242,204.15. This represents a 40.95% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Insurance Co Of Ame Prudential purchased 1,406,739 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 23rd. The shares were bought at an average price of $24.87 per share, for a total transaction of $34,985,598.93. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 7,709,624 shares in the company, valued at $191,738,348.88. This represents a 22.32% increase in their position. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last three months, insiders sold 62,719 shares of company stock worth $6,796,067. 0.25% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PRU has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Prudential Financial from $117.00 to $118.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 7th. Mizuho initiated coverage on shares of Prudential Financial in a report on Tuesday, December 16th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $125.00 price objective for the company. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Prudential Financial from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, January 10th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Prudential Financial from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Monday, January 12th. Finally, Barclays dropped their price target on Prudential Financial from $120.00 to $117.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $120.78.

Prudential Financial Stock Performance

PRU opened at $109.82 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 0.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58. The business’s 50 day moving average is $112.69 and its 200-day moving average is $107.29. The stock has a market cap of $38.44 billion, a PE ratio of 15.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 0.97. Prudential Financial, Inc. has a twelve month low of $90.38 and a twelve month high of $123.41.

Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The financial services provider reported $4.26 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.72 by $0.54. Prudential Financial had a return on equity of 16.60% and a net margin of 4.65%.The firm had revenue of $17.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $13.77 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $3.48 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Prudential Financial, Inc. will post 14.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Prudential Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 11th. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 18th were paid a dividend of $1.35 per share. This represents a $5.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.9%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, November 18th. Prudential Financial’s payout ratio is currently 74.18%.

Prudential Financial Company Profile

Prudential Financial, Inc, headquartered in Newark, New Jersey, is a diversified financial services company with roots dating to 1875. The firm provides a range of insurance, retirement and investment products aimed at helping individual and institutional clients manage risk, accumulate and protect wealth, and plan for retirement. Prudential’s long history in life insurance and related financial services has positioned it as a major participant in the U.S. insurance market and a provider of services to a broad client base.

Prudential’s core business activities include individual life insurance, annuities, retirement solutions and group insurance products for employers.