Pacer Advisors Inc. Has $4.50 Million Holdings in Prudential Financial, Inc. $PRU

Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU) by 51.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 43,332 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 14,668 shares during the quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Prudential Financial were worth $4,495,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its position in shares of Prudential Financial by 3.7% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 3,681 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $436,000 after purchasing an additional 133 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Prudential Financial in the 1st quarter valued at about $578,000. AlphaQuest LLC boosted its position in shares of Prudential Financial by 12,250.0% during the first quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 247 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 245 shares during the period. State of Wyoming grew its holdings in shares of Prudential Financial by 7.6% during the first quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 3,345 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $374,000 after buying an additional 236 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board raised its holdings in shares of Prudential Financial by 2.4% in the first quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 168,176 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $18,782,000 after purchasing an additional 3,872 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 56.83% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Timothy L. Schmidt sold 8,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $107.69, for a total value of $861,520.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 11,535 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,242,204.15. The trade was a 40.95% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Charles F. Lowrey sold 48,164 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $107.39, for a total transaction of $5,172,331.96. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman directly owned 165,564 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,779,917.96. This represents a 22.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 62,719 shares of company stock valued at $6,796,067 over the last quarter. 0.25% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have weighed in on PRU. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on Prudential Financial from $117.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, November 3rd. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on Prudential Financial from $110.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 23rd. Barclays dropped their target price on Prudential Financial from $120.00 to $117.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Evercore ISI increased their price target on Prudential Financial from $120.00 to $122.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Prudential Financial from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, November 8th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $118.00.

Prudential Financial Trading Down 0.7%

Shares of Prudential Financial stock opened at $113.22 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $39.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.55, a P/E/G ratio of 0.93 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a quick ratio of 0.16 and a current ratio of 0.16. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $108.55 and its 200 day simple moving average is $106.20. Prudential Financial, Inc. has a 52-week low of $90.38 and a 52-week high of $123.88.

Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 15th. The financial services provider reported $3.58 EPS for the quarter. The business had revenue of $8.35 billion during the quarter. Prudential Financial had a return on equity of 16.60% and a net margin of 4.65%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Prudential Financial, Inc. will post 14.36 EPS for the current year.

Prudential Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 11th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 18th were issued a $1.35 dividend. This represents a $5.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.8%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, November 18th. Prudential Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 74.18%.

Prudential Financial 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.