Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC Increases Stock Position in Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU)

Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU) by 43.4% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 4,839 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,465 shares during the period. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Prudential Financial were worth $574,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Prudential Financial by 4,130.8% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,298,257 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $157,219,000 after purchasing an additional 1,267,571 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its holdings in shares of Prudential Financial by 176.8% in the fourth 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. FMR LLC increased its stake in shares of Prudential Financial by 31.3% during the third 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 period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Prudential Financial by 4.1% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,662,679 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,047,872,000 after purchasing an additional 341,787 shares during the period. Finally, Capital Advisors Inc. OK purchased a new stake in Prudential Financial in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $30,226,000. 56.83% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, major shareholder Insurance Co Of Ame Prudential acquired 537,249 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 25th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $27.92 per share, with a total value of $14,999,992.08. Following the purchase, the insider now directly owns 4,780,293 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $133,465,780.56. This 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 link. 0.31% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Prudential Financial Price Performance

Prudential Financial stock opened at $122.44 on Thursday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $121.07 and its two-hundred day moving average is $120.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 0.14 and a quick ratio of 0.14. The stock has a market capitalization of $43.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.88, a P/E/G ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 1.31. Prudential Financial, Inc. has a 12-month low of $100.60 and a 12-month high of $130.55.

Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $3.48 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.47 by $0.01. Prudential Financial had a net margin of 6.03% and a return on equity of 15.30%. The firm had revenue of $19.48 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.57 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $3.44 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Prudential Financial, Inc. will post 13.24 earnings per share for the current year.

Prudential Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 12th. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 19th were given a dividend of $1.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, November 19th. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.25%. Prudential Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 46.22%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently commented on PRU shares. TD Cowen raised their price target on Prudential Financial from $130.00 to $133.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. Bank of America increased their price target on shares of Prudential Financial from $109.00 to $118.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Prudential Financial from $127.00 to $128.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of 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 report on Thursday, November 14th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Prudential Financial from $117.00 to $115.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $125.31.

Prudential Financial Profile

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.