Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC Has $6.09 Million Position in Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU)

Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC raised its position in Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU) by 15.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 58,699 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 7,981 shares during the period. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC’s holdings in Prudential Financial were worth $6,088,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Prudential Financial by 1.5% in the first quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,613,784 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $628,529,000 after buying an additional 111,170 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley lifted its position in shares of Prudential Financial by 6.7% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 6,589,363 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $655,378,000 after purchasing an additional 413,421 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Prudential Financial by 6.0% during the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,353,887 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $750,839,000 after purchasing an additional 356,957 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in shares of Prudential Financial by 4.8% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 4,353,086 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $413,064,000 after purchasing an additional 197,422 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Prudential Financial by 3.3% during the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,247,466 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $383,753,000 after purchasing an additional 103,853 shares in the last quarter. 56.83% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PRU has been the topic of a number of research reports. UBS Group upped their target price 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. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on shares of Prudential Financial from $104.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $118.00 price target (down from $119.00) on shares of Prudential Financial in a research note on Wednesday, January 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Prudential Financial from $100.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their target price on shares of Prudential Financial from $114.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have given a hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $111.33.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Prudential Financial news, SVP Timothy L. Schmidt sold 7,912 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $108.13, for a total value of $855,524.56. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 14,754 shares in the company, valued at $1,595,350.02. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, EVP Ann M. Kappler sold 7,222 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $108.39, for a total value of $782,792.58. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 24,381 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,642,656.59. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Timothy L. Schmidt sold 7,912 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $108.13, for a total transaction of $855,524.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 14,754 shares in the company, valued at $1,595,350.02. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 29,255 shares of company stock worth $3,215,664. 0.31% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Prudential Financial Stock Up 1.6 %

PRU traded up $1.70 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $110.40. 528,432 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,514,155. Prudential Financial, Inc. has a 1-year low of $77.22 and a 1-year high of $118.69. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $111.20 and its two-hundred day moving average is $102.94. The stock has a market cap of $39.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.25, a PEG ratio of 0.73 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a quick ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 0.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65.

Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU) last announced its 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 return on equity of 14.52% and a net margin of 4.89%. The business had revenue of $13.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.99 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.42 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Prudential Financial, Inc. will post 13.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Prudential Financial Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 14th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 20th were issued a dividend of $1.30 per share. This is a boost 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 4.71%. Prudential Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 77.73%.

Prudential Financial Company 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.