Verity & Verity LLC Raises Position in Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU)

Verity & Verity LLC lifted its position in shares of Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU) by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 173,923 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,817 shares during the quarter. Prudential Financial comprises approximately 2.1% of Verity & Verity LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 15th largest position. Verity & Verity LLC’s holdings in Prudential Financial were worth $21,062,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Creekmur Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Prudential Financial by 78.8% during the 1st quarter. Creekmur Asset Management LLC now owns 245 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 108 shares during the last quarter. Lynx Investment Advisory bought a new position in shares of Prudential Financial during the 2nd quarter valued at $29,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new stake in shares of Prudential Financial in the third quarter worth $31,000. Crewe Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Prudential Financial during the first quarter valued at $33,000. Finally, Bank & Trust Co bought a new position in Prudential Financial in the second quarter valued at about $37,000. 56.83% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Prudential Financial from $123.00 to $122.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 19th. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Prudential Financial from $118.00 to $119.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on Prudential Financial from $121.00 to $127.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Citigroup lifted their target price on Prudential Financial from $104.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Finally, Argus upgraded Prudential Financial to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $125.69.

Insider Activity

In other Prudential Financial news, EVP Ann M. Kappler sold 2,839 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $113.43, for a total transaction of $322,027.77. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 14,535 shares in the company, valued at $1,648,705.05. This represents a 16.34 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Caroline Feeney sold 1,110 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $119.97, for a total value of $133,166.70. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 10,175 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,220,694.75. The trade was a 9.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Prudential Financial Stock Performance

PRU opened at $128.17 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 0.14 and a current ratio of 0.14. The stock has a market capitalization of $45.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.39, a PEG ratio of 0.91 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a fifty day moving average of $122.47 and a 200 day moving average of $119.44. Prudential Financial, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $93.32 and a fifty-two week high of $129.13.

Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU) last issued 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 firm had revenue of $19.48 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.57 billion. Prudential Financial had a return on equity of 15.30% and a net margin of 6.03%. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $3.44 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Prudential Financial, Inc. will post 13.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Prudential Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 19th will be paid a $1.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 19th. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.06%. Prudential Financial’s payout ratio is currently 46.22%.

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.