New York State Common Retirement Fund Cuts Holdings in Prudential Financial, Inc. $PRU

New York State Common Retirement Fund lowered its position in Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU) by 2.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 233,489 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 6,600 shares during the quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund’s holdings in Prudential Financial were worth $24,222,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of PRU. Darwin Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Prudential Financial in the second quarter worth approximately $36,000. Chilton Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Prudential Financial by 146.5% in the 3rd quarter. Chilton Capital Management LLC now owns 350 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 208 shares during the period. AlphaCore Capital LLC purchased a new position in Prudential Financial during the second quarter valued at $39,000. Capital A Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in 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 valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 368 shares during the period. Finally, Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Prudential Financial during the second quarter valued at approximately $51,000. 56.83% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Prudential Financial

In other Prudential Financial news, major shareholder Insurance Co Of Ame Prudential purchased 1,406,739 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, January 23rd. The shares were bought at an average cost of $24.87 per share, with a total value of $34,985,598.93. Following the completion of the acquisition, the insider owned 7,709,624 shares in the company, valued at $191,738,348.88. This trade represents a 22.32% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Timothy L. Schmidt sold 8,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $107.69, for a total transaction of $861,520.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 11,535 shares in the company, valued at $1,242,204.15. The trade was a 40.95% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last three months, insiders sold 62,719 shares of company stock worth $6,796,067. Corporate insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PRU has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Barclays reduced their target price on Prudential Financial from $120.00 to $117.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Prudential Financial from $111.00 to $116.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 8th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Prudential Financial from $117.00 to $118.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 7th. Evercore ISI increased their target price on Prudential Financial from $120.00 to $122.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their target price on shares of Prudential Financial from $110.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $120.78.

Prudential Financial Stock Performance

PRU stock opened at $111.00 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $112.77 and a 200 day moving average price of $107.35. Prudential Financial, Inc. has a 1-year low of $90.38 and a 1-year high of $122.34. The company has a market capitalization of $38.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.25, a PEG ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 0.16 and a quick ratio of 0.16.

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

Prudential Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 11th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 18th were paid a $1.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, November 18th. This represents a $5.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.9%. Prudential Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 74.18%.

Prudential Financial 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.