Americana Partners LLC Acquires 627 Shares of Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU)

Americana Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU) by 3.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 21,806 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 627 shares during the quarter. Americana Partners LLC’s holdings in Prudential Financial were worth $2,585,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of PRU. Glenmede Trust Co. NA grew 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 valued at $2,176,000 after buying an additional 1,234 shares during the last quarter. Avanza Fonder AB acquired a new position in shares of Prudential Financial in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $3,423,000. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC increased its stake 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. boosted its stake 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 valued at $50,830,000 after purchasing an additional 15,695 shares during the period. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its holdings 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 in the last quarter. 56.83% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Evercore ISI raised shares of Prudential Financial from an “underperform” rating to an “inline” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $117.00 to $140.00 in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price objective on shares of Prudential Financial from $129.00 to $125.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of Prudential Financial from $149.00 to $152.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on Prudential Financial in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $101.00 price target for the company. Finally, TD Cowen raised their price objective on Prudential Financial from $130.00 to $133.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Prudential Financial presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $125.46.

Insider Activity at Prudential Financial

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

Prudential Financial Stock Performance

NYSE:PRU opened at $111.54 on Tuesday. Prudential Financial, Inc. has a twelve month low of $104.44 and a twelve month high of $130.55. The company has a quick ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 0.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $117.87 and its 200 day simple moving average is $119.78. The firm has a market capitalization of $39.71 billion, a PE ratio of 14.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 1.31.

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 anticipate that Prudential Financial, Inc. will post 14.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Prudential Financial Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be paid a $1.35 dividend. This represents a $5.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.84%. This is a boost from Prudential Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.30. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 18th. Prudential Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 72.29%.

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.