Swedbank AB Buys 12,468 Shares of Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU)

Swedbank AB increased its stake in shares of Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU) by 4.2% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 311,700 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 12,468 shares during the quarter. Swedbank AB owned about 0.09% of Prudential Financial worth $37,747,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. First Horizon Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Prudential Financial by 4.3% in the third quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 162,685 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $19,701,000 after purchasing an additional 6,641 shares during the last quarter. ORG Partners LLC bought a new stake in Prudential Financial in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $156,000. PGGM Investments raised its holdings in shares of Prudential Financial by 98.0% during the 2nd quarter. PGGM Investments now owns 64,277 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $7,533,000 after acquiring an additional 31,807 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its position in shares of Prudential Financial by 49.5% during the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 80,148 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $9,409,000 after acquiring an additional 26,520 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Deerfield Management Company L.P. Series C purchased a new position in shares of Prudential Financial in the second quarter valued at $530,000. 56.83% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Prudential Financial

In other news, EVP Caroline Feeney sold 1,110 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $119.97, for a total value of $133,166.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 10,175 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,220,694.75. The trade was a 9.84 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, major shareholder Insurance Co Of Ame Prudential acquired 261,059 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 8th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $27.58 per share, for a total transaction of $7,200,007.22. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 4,208,549 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $116,071,781.42. This represents a 6.61 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have commented on PRU. Argus upgraded shares of Prudential Financial to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated a “market perform” rating and issued a $121.00 price target on shares of Prudential Financial in a research report on Wednesday, August 21st. UBS Group upped their price objective on Prudential Financial from $112.00 to $119.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 13th. TD Cowen assumed coverage on Prudential Financial in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $130.00 target price for the company. Finally, Piper Sandler increased their price target on Prudential Financial from $121.00 to $127.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $125.69.

Prudential Financial Trading Up 0.6 %

NYSE PRU opened at $128.72 on Tuesday. Prudential Financial, Inc. has a 12 month low of $94.92 and a 12 month high of $129.69. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $123.52 and its 200-day moving average price is $119.82. The stock has a market cap of $45.82 billion, a PE ratio of 11.44, a PEG ratio of 0.91 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a current ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 0.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60.

Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $3.48 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.47 by $0.01. Prudential Financial had a net margin of 6.03% and a return on equity of 15.30%. The firm had revenue of $19.48 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.57 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.44 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Prudential Financial, Inc. will post 13.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Prudential Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 19th will be paid a dividend of $1.30 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 19th. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.04%. Prudential Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 46.22%.

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.