Prudential Financial, Inc. $PRU Stock Holdings Lessened by Groupama Asset Managment

Groupama Asset Managment lessened its holdings in shares of Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU) by 82.3% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 4,274 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 19,822 shares during the quarter. Groupama Asset Managment’s holdings in Prudential Financial were worth $443,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Investment Research Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Prudential Financial during the third quarter valued at approximately $646,000. KERR FINANCIAL PLANNING Corp acquired a new position in Prudential Financial during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $54,000. Trust Investment Advisors boosted its position in Prudential Financial by 2.9% during the 3rd quarter. Trust Investment Advisors now owns 10,743 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,114,000 after purchasing an additional 303 shares during the period. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC grew its stake in Prudential Financial by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 28,795 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,987,000 after buying an additional 97 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Prana Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in Prudential Financial in the third quarter worth $18,205,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 56.83% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on PRU. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Prudential Financial from $120.00 to $111.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on shares of Prudential Financial from $110.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 23rd. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Prudential Financial from $124.00 to $119.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, March 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of Prudential Financial from $133.00 to $127.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut Prudential Financial from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, January 10th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $115.22.

Insider Transactions at Prudential Financial

In other news, Director Joseph J. Wolk bought 400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 11th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $105.32 per share, with a total value of $42,128.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 400 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $42,128. This represents a ∞ increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 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 stock was acquired 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 owned 7,709,624 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $191,738,348.88. This represents a 22.32% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Over the last ninety days, insiders have bought 1,408,389 shares of company stock valued at $35,154,439. 0.25% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Prudential Financial Price Performance

Shares of NYSE PRU opened at $93.07 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $32.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.31, a P/E/G ratio of 1.15 and a beta of 0.98. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $103.31 and its 200 day simple moving average is $106.02. Prudential Financial, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $90.38 and a fifty-two week high of $119.76. The company has a quick ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 0.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58.

Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 3rd. The financial services provider reported $3.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.37 by ($0.07). The company had revenue of $14.52 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.48 billion. Prudential Financial had a net margin of 6.20% and a return on equity of 16.32%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.96 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Prudential Financial, Inc. will post 14.36 EPS for the current year.

Prudential Financial Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 12th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 17th were issued a dividend of $1.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 17th. This is a positive change from Prudential Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.35. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.0%. Prudential Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 56.00%.

About Prudential Financial

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.