Kentucky Trust Co Buys Shares of 458 Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU)

Kentucky Trust Co bought a new stake in Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 458 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $54,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Capital Advisors Inc. OK lifted its stake in Prudential Financial by 5.1% in the fourth quarter. Capital Advisors Inc. OK now owns 262,238 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $31,083,000 after acquiring an additional 12,644 shares during the last quarter. Indiana Trust & Investment Management Co lifted its stake in Prudential Financial by 4.0% in the fourth quarter. Indiana Trust & Investment Management Co now owns 4,563 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $541,000 after acquiring an additional 175 shares during the last quarter. Community Bank & Trust Waco Texas lifted its stake in shares of Prudential Financial by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Community Bank & Trust Waco Texas now owns 46,558 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,519,000 after buying an additional 698 shares during the last quarter. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Prudential Financial in the fourth quarter worth $237,000. Finally, Essex Financial Services Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Prudential Financial by 24.5% in the fourth quarter. Essex Financial Services Inc. now owns 2,233 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $265,000 after buying an additional 439 shares during the last quarter. 56.83% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Prudential Financial Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of Prudential Financial stock opened at $110.82 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $39.45 billion, a PE ratio of 14.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 1.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 0.16 and a quick ratio of 0.14. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $118.78 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $120.07. Prudential Financial, Inc. has a 52-week low of $104.02 and a 52-week high of $130.55.

Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The financial services provider reported $2.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.36 by ($0.40). Prudential Financial had a net margin of 4.01% and a return on equity of 15.86%. On average, analysts expect that Prudential Financial, Inc. will post 14.38 EPS for the current year.

Prudential Financial Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be issued a $1.35 dividend. This is a positive change from Prudential Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.30. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $5.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.87%. Prudential Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 69.61%.

Insider Transactions at Prudential Financial

In other news, major shareholder Insurance Co Of Ame Prudential bought 537,249 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 25th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $27.92 per share, with a total value of $14,999,992.08. Following the acquisition, the insider now owns 4,780,293 shares in the company, valued at $133,465,780.56. This trade represents a 12.66 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.31% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PRU has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. TD Cowen boosted 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. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Prudential Financial from an “underperform” rating to an “inline” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $117.00 to $140.00 in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Prudential Financial from $128.00 to $134.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Prudential Financial from $117.00 to $115.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Piper Sandler dropped their target price on shares of Prudential Financial from $127.00 to $124.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $125.46.

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.