O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC Acquires 46,649 Shares of Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU)

O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU) by 103.5% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 91,700 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 46,649 shares during the period. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Prudential Financial were worth $10,766,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of PRU. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in shares of Prudential Financial by 59.7% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 38,664 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,669,000 after purchasing an additional 14,459 shares during the period. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC grew its holdings in shares of Prudential Financial by 4.9% during the 4th quarter. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC now owns 5,103 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $532,000 after acquiring an additional 238 shares during the period. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. raised its position in shares of Prudential Financial by 12.8% in the 4th quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 3,123 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $324,000 after acquiring an additional 355 shares in the last quarter. Advisor Resource Council bought a new stake in shares of Prudential Financial during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $433,000. Finally, Everhart Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Prudential Financial in the fourth quarter worth $226,000. 56.83% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Prudential Financial

In related news, SVP Timothy L. Schmidt sold 5,189 shares of Prudential Financial stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $116.58, for a total value of $604,933.62. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 12,236 shares in the company, valued at $1,426,472.88. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, major shareholder Insurance Co Of Ame Prudential purchased 652,884 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 20th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $27.57 per share, for a total transaction of $18,000,011.88. Following the acquisition, the insider now owns 3,883,390 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $107,065,062.30. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Timothy L. Schmidt sold 5,189 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $116.58, for a total transaction of $604,933.62. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 12,236 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,426,472.88. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.31% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have weighed in on PRU. Evercore ISI raised their target price on shares of Prudential Financial from $115.00 to $116.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Prudential Financial from $120.00 to $123.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Prudential Financial from $100.00 to $106.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on Prudential Financial from $125.00 to $121.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, May 6th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on shares of Prudential Financial from $118.00 to $121.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, July 8th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $116.92.

Prudential Financial Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of PRU traded down $0.17 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $124.44. The stock had a trading volume of 1,087,005 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,454,891. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $118.90 and its 200 day moving average is $112.97. The firm has a market cap of $44.67 billion, a PE ratio of 21.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 1.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.13 and a quick ratio of 0.13. Prudential Financial, Inc. has a 1 year low of $87.95 and a 1 year high of $128.52.

Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The financial services provider reported $3.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.16 by ($0.04). The business had revenue of $15.01 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.50 billion. Prudential Financial had a return on equity of 15.50% and a net margin of 3.76%. Prudential Financial’s revenue was up 69.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.66 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Prudential Financial, Inc. will post 13.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Prudential Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 13th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 21st were issued a dividend of $1.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 20th. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.18%. Prudential Financial’s payout ratio is currently 88.44%.

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.