Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU) Holdings Trimmed by Murphy Middleton Hinkle & Parker Inc.

Murphy Middleton Hinkle & Parker Inc. lowered its holdings in Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU) by 17.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,738 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 565 shares during the period. Murphy Middleton Hinkle & Parker Inc.’s holdings in Prudential Financial were worth $325,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Glenmede Trust Co. NA lifted its stake in Prudential Financial by 7.4% in the 3rd quarter. Glenmede Trust Co. NA now owns 17,968 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,176,000 after acquiring an additional 1,234 shares in the last quarter. Avanza Fonder AB acquired a new position in shares of Prudential Financial in the 4th quarter valued at about $3,423,000. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Prudential Financial by 56.1% during the fourth quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC now owns 21,998 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,607,000 after purchasing an additional 7,907 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in Prudential Financial by 3.9% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 419,733 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $50,830,000 after purchasing an additional 15,695 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its stake in Prudential Financial by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 79,256 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $9,597,000 after buying an additional 1,765 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 56.83% of the company’s stock.

Prudential Financial Trading Up 0.5 %

NYSE PRU opened at $118.98 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $42.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.58, a PEG ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 1.31. Prudential Financial, Inc. has a 52 week low of $100.60 and a 52 week high of $130.55. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $122.06 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $120.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 0.14 and a current ratio of 0.14.

Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $3.48 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.47 by $0.01. Prudential Financial had a net margin of 6.03% and a return on equity of 15.30%. The business had revenue of $19.48 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.57 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $3.44 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Prudential Financial, Inc. will post 13.34 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Prudential Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 12th. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 19th were given a dividend of $1.30 per share. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.37%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, November 19th. Prudential Financial’s dividend payout ratio is 46.22%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Prudential Financial

In other news, major shareholder Insurance Co Of Ame Prudential bought 537,249 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 25th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $27.92 per share, for a total transaction of $14,999,992.08. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 4,780,293 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $133,465,780.56. This represents a 12.66 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on Prudential Financial from $127.00 to $124.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. TD Cowen lifted their price target on shares of Prudential Financial from $130.00 to $133.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. Evercore ISI raised shares of Prudential Financial from an “underperform” rating to an “inline” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $117.00 to $140.00 in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Prudential Financial from $117.00 to $115.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Barclays cut their target price on shares of Prudential Financial from $129.00 to $127.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $127.25.

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.