Vise Technologies Inc. Increases Holdings in Prudential Financial, Inc. $PRU

Vise Technologies Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU) by 165.8% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 31,991 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 19,956 shares during the quarter. Vise Technologies Inc.’s holdings in Prudential Financial were worth $3,453,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Wellington Shields & Co. LLC increased its stake in shares of Prudential Financial by 25.9% in the 2nd quarter. Wellington Shields & Co. LLC now owns 9,982 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,077,000 after acquiring an additional 2,055 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Shields Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Prudential Financial in the second quarter valued at about $43,000. West Family Investments Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Prudential Financial in the second quarter valued at about $514,000. NewEdge Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Prudential Financial in the 2nd quarter valued at $207,000. Finally, Essential Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Prudential Financial by 3,269.2% during the 2nd quarter. Essential Partners LLC now owns 876 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $95,000 after purchasing an additional 850 shares during the period. 56.83% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently issued reports on PRU. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on shares of Prudential Financial from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, July 10th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “underweight” rating and set a $92.00 price target (down from $106.00) on shares of Prudential Financial in a research report on Monday, May 4th. TD Cowen boosted their price target on shares of Prudential Financial from $102.00 to $114.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 22nd. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on shares of Prudential Financial from $110.00 to $128.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 11th. Finally, Argus cut shares of Prudential Financial from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and five have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $108.31.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Ann M. Kappler sold 7,652 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $125.01, for a total value of $956,576.52. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 14,407 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,801,019.07. This trade represents a 34.69% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Insurance Co Of Ame Prudential sold 214,746 shares of Prudential Financial stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.75, for a total value of $5,314,963.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 7,973,657 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $197,348,010.75. This trade represents a 2.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 0.05% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Prudential Financial Stock Up 0.5%

Shares of PRU opened at $121.21 on Friday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $116.66 and its 200-day simple moving average is $105.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a quick ratio of 0.16 and a current ratio of 0.16. Prudential Financial, Inc. has a 1 year low of $91.89 and a 1 year high of $127.72. The stock has a market capitalization of $41.82 billion, a PE ratio of 10.98, a P/E/G ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.84.

Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 4th. The financial services provider reported $4.08 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.52 by $0.56. The firm had revenue of $14.15 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.36 billion. Prudential Financial had a net margin of 6.51% and a return on equity of 16.68%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $3.58 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Prudential Financial, Inc. will post 14.24 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Prudential Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 25th will be paid a $1.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 25th. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.6%. Prudential Financial’s payout ratio is 50.72%.

Prudential Financial Company Profile

Prudential Financial, Inc, headquartered in Newark, New Jersey, is a diversified financial services company with roots dating to 1875. The firm provides a range of insurance, retirement and investment products aimed at helping individual and institutional clients manage risk, accumulate and protect wealth, and plan for retirement. Prudential’s long history in life insurance and related financial services has positioned it as a major participant in the U.S. insurance market and a provider of services to a broad client base.

Prudential’s core business activities include individual life insurance, annuities, retirement solutions and group insurance products for employers.