Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. Purchases New Position in Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU)

Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund purchased 11,200 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,162,000. Prudential Financial accounts for approximately 0.7% of Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 29th biggest holding.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. FMR LLC boosted its position in Prudential Financial by 2.9% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,315,215 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $124,801,000 after buying an additional 36,599 shares during the last quarter. Czech National Bank boosted its position in Prudential Financial by 46.8% in the 3rd quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 63,444 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $6,020,000 after buying an additional 20,235 shares during the last quarter. Tyche Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Prudential Financial during the fourth quarter worth about $815,000. Arvest Investments Inc. bought a new position in shares of Prudential Financial during the fourth quarter worth about $2,112,000. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Prudential Financial by 14.5% during the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 268,728 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $25,500,000 after purchasing an additional 34,054 shares during the last quarter. 56.83% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Prudential Financial news, SVP Robert Axel sold 6,436 shares of Prudential Financial stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $111.86, for a total value of $719,930.96. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 7,901 shares in the company, valued at $883,805.86. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other Prudential Financial news, SVP Robert Axel sold 6,436 shares of Prudential Financial stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $111.86, for a total value of $719,930.96. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 7,901 shares in the company, valued at $883,805.86. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Ann M. Kappler sold 7,222 shares of Prudential Financial stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $108.39, for a total transaction of $782,792.58. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 24,381 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,642,656.59. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 29,255 shares of company stock worth $3,215,664. 0.31% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Prudential Financial Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:PRU traded up $1.91 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $110.61. The stock had a trading volume of 1,419,863 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,527,028. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $111.30 and its 200 day simple moving average is $103.06. Prudential Financial, Inc. has a 1-year low of $77.22 and a 1-year high of $118.69. The firm has a market capitalization of $39.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.53, a PEG ratio of 0.73 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.13 and a current ratio of 0.13.

Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 6th. The financial services provider reported $2.58 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.67 by ($0.09). Prudential Financial had a net margin of 4.89% and a return on equity of 14.52%. The firm had revenue of $13.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.99 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.42 EPS. Prudential Financial’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Prudential Financial, Inc. will post 13.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Prudential Financial Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 20th were given a $1.30 dividend. This is a positive change from Prudential Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.25. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 16th. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.70%. Prudential Financial’s payout ratio is 77.73%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently commented on PRU. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Prudential Financial from $100.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. TheStreet raised shares of Prudential Financial from a “c+” rating to an “a-” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $118.00 price target (down previously from $119.00) on shares of Prudential Financial in a research report on Wednesday, January 3rd. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Prudential Financial from $108.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 12th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on shares of Prudential Financial from $112.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have issued a hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Prudential Financial presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $111.33.

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.