Sheets Smith Wealth Management Purchases New Shares in Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU)

Sheets Smith Wealth Management acquired a new position in Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 2,216 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $263,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Prudential Financial by 4,130.8% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,298,257 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $157,219,000 after buying an additional 1,267,571 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its holdings in Prudential Financial by 176.8% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,041,420 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $123,804,000 after acquiring an additional 665,180 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Prudential Financial by 97.4% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 724,244 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $84,874,000 after purchasing an additional 357,300 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its position in shares of Prudential Financial by 31.3% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,444,288 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $174,903,000 after purchasing an additional 344,254 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Prudential Financial by 4.1% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,662,679 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,047,872,000 after purchasing an additional 341,787 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 56.83% of the company’s stock.

Prudential Financial Trading Down 2.5 %

PRU opened at $117.32 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 0.14 and a quick ratio of 0.14. Prudential Financial, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $100.60 and a fifty-two week high of $130.55. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $121.84 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $120.71. The firm has a market capitalization of $41.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.43, a PEG ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 1.31.

Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $3.48 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.47 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $19.48 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.57 billion. Prudential Financial had a return on equity of 15.30% and a net margin of 6.03%. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $3.44 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Prudential Financial, Inc. will post 13.26 earnings per share for the current year.

Prudential Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 12th. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 19th were issued a $1.30 dividend. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.43%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, November 19th. Prudential Financial’s payout ratio is presently 46.22%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Prudential Financial

In other news, major shareholder Insurance Co Of Ame Prudential acquired 537,249 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 25th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $27.92 per share, for a total transaction of $14,999,992.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 4,780,293 shares in the company, valued at $133,465,780.56. This represents a 12.66 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have commented on PRU. TD Cowen raised their target price on shares of Prudential Financial from $130.00 to $133.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. Piper Sandler cut their target price on Prudential Financial from $127.00 to $124.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Evercore ISI upgraded Prudential Financial from an “underperform” rating to an “inline” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $117.00 to $140.00 in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Prudential Financial from $117.00 to $115.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on Prudential Financial from $149.00 to $152.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Prudential Financial has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $127.25.

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.