CHURCHILL MANAGEMENT Corp Boosts Stock Position in Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU)

CHURCHILL MANAGEMENT Corp grew its holdings in shares of Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU) by 4.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 81,812 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,201 shares during the period. CHURCHILL MANAGEMENT Corp’s holdings in Prudential Financial were worth $9,697,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of PRU. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Prudential Financial by 4,130.8% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,298,257 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $157,219,000 after purchasing an additional 1,267,571 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its position in Prudential Financial by 176.8% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,041,420 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $123,804,000 after purchasing an additional 665,180 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Prudential Financial by 97.4% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 724,244 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $84,874,000 after acquiring an additional 357,300 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its stake in Prudential Financial by 31.3% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,444,288 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $174,903,000 after buying an additional 344,254 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Prudential Financial by 4.1% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,662,679 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,047,872,000 after buying an additional 341,787 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 56.83% of the company’s stock.

Prudential Financial Price Performance

PRU stock opened at $120.10 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $42.76 billion, a PE ratio of 10.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 1.31. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $122.38 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $120.67. 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, Inc. has a 1 year low of $100.60 and a 1 year high of $130.55.

Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $3.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.57 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $3.44 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Prudential Financial, Inc. will post 13.34 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Prudential Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 12th. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 19th were paid a $1.30 dividend. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.33%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, November 19th. Prudential Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 46.22%.

Insider Transactions at Prudential Financial

In other news, major shareholder Insurance Co Of Ame Prudential acquired 537,249 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 25th. The stock was bought at an average price of $27.92 per share, with a total value of $14,999,992.08. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider now directly owns 4,780,293 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $133,465,780.56. This represents a 12.66 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on shares of Prudential Financial from $121.00 to $127.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Prudential Financial from $109.00 to $118.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on shares of Prudential Financial from $130.00 to $133.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on Prudential Financial from $149.00 to $152.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Evercore ISI upgraded Prudential Financial from an “underperform” rating to an “inline” rating and increased their target price for the company from $117.00 to $140.00 in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $127.00.

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.