Valley Wealth Managers Inc. Sells 2,001 Shares of Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU)

Valley Wealth Managers Inc. lessened its holdings in shares of Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU) by 6.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 28,717 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 2,001 shares during the period. Valley Wealth Managers Inc.’s holdings in Prudential Financial were worth $3,404,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State Street Corp raised its stake in Prudential Financial by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 17,007,013 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,059,549,000 after acquiring an additional 49,830 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Prudential Financial by 4.1% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,662,679 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,047,872,000 after acquiring an additional 341,787 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its stake in Prudential Financial by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 3,058,028 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $370,327,000 after acquiring an additional 47,561 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its stake in Prudential Financial by 31.3% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,444,288 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $174,903,000 after acquiring an additional 344,254 shares during the last quarter. Finally, abrdn plc raised its stake in Prudential Financial by 4.0% in the 3rd quarter. abrdn plc now owns 1,309,155 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $158,120,000 after acquiring an additional 50,026 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 56.83% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on PRU shares. Evercore ISI upgraded Prudential Financial from an “underperform” rating to an “inline” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $117.00 to $140.00 in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Prudential Financial from $117.00 to $115.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on Prudential Financial from $130.00 to $133.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on Prudential Financial in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. They set an “underperform” rating and a $101.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their target price on Prudential Financial from $129.00 to $125.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $125.46.

Prudential Financial Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of Prudential Financial stock opened at $111.54 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $39.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.93, a P/E/G ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 1.31. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $117.87 and its 200-day simple moving average is $119.78. Prudential Financial, Inc. has a 1-year low of $104.44 and a 1-year high of $130.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 0.16 and a quick ratio of 0.14.

Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The financial services provider reported $2.96 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.36 by ($0.40). Prudential Financial had a net margin of 4.01% and a return on equity of 15.86%. Analysts predict that Prudential Financial, Inc. will post 14.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Prudential Financial Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be given a dividend of $1.35 per share. This represents a $5.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.84%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 18th. This is a positive change from Prudential Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.30. Prudential Financial’s payout ratio is presently 69.61%.

Insider Activity

In other news, major shareholder Insurance Co Of Ame Prudential bought 537,249 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 25th. The shares were bought at an average price of $27.92 per share, with a total value 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 trade represents a 12.66 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

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.