Geneos Wealth Management Inc. Acquires 514 Shares of Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU)

Geneos Wealth Management Inc. grew its stake in Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU) by 9.4% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 5,978 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 514 shares during the quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc.’s holdings in Prudential Financial were worth $709,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on shares of Prudential Financial in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. They set an “underperform” rating and a $101.00 price objective on the stock. Evercore ISI upgraded Prudential Financial from an “underperform” rating to an “inline” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $117.00 to $140.00 in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Bank of America increased their target price on Prudential Financial from $109.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Barclays upped their price target on Prudential Financial from $127.00 to $128.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Piper Sandler lowered their target price on shares of Prudential Financial from $127.00 to $124.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Prudential Financial presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $125.31.

Prudential Financial Stock Up 2.7 %

Shares of NYSE PRU opened at $120.50 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $42.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.71, a P/E/G ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 1.31. Prudential Financial, Inc. has a 12-month low of $100.60 and a 12-month high of $130.55. The company has a current ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 0.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $121.29 and its 200-day moving average price is $120.68.

Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $3.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.47 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $19.48 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.57 billion. Prudential Financial had a return on equity of 15.30% and a net margin of 6.03%. During the same period last year, the company earned $3.44 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Prudential Financial, Inc. will post 13.24 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Prudential Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 12th. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 19th were given a $1.30 dividend. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.32%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, November 19th. Prudential Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 46.22%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, major shareholder Insurance Co Of Ame Prudential purchased 537,249 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 25th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $27.92 per share, for a total transaction of $14,999,992.08. Following the completion of the acquisition, the insider now owns 4,780,293 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $133,465,780.56. This trade represents a 12.66 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.31% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Prudential Financial 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.