Checchi Capital Advisers LLC Purchases 180 Shares of Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU)

Checchi Capital Advisers LLC lifted its position in shares of Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU) by 3.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,980 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 180 shares during the quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC’s holdings in Prudential Financial were worth $590,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in PRU. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its position in shares of Prudential Financial by 176.8% during the fourth 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. FMR LLC boosted its position in shares of Prudential Financial by 31.3% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,444,288 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $174,903,000 after purchasing an additional 344,254 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Prudential Financial by 4.1% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,662,679 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,047,872,000 after purchasing an additional 341,787 shares in the last quarter. Capital Advisors Inc. OK bought a new position in shares of Prudential Financial during the third quarter worth $30,226,000. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Prudential Financial by 241.8% during the third quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 214,456 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $25,971,000 after purchasing an additional 151,710 shares in the last quarter. 56.83% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently commented on PRU shares. BMO Capital Markets started coverage on shares of Prudential Financial in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $101.00 price objective on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price objective on shares of Prudential Financial from $129.00 to $125.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Prudential Financial from $113.00 to $118.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Evercore ISI raised shares of 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. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Prudential Financial from $128.00 to $134.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $125.69.

Prudential Financial Stock Up 0.6 %

Prudential Financial stock opened at $111.81 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $40.03 billion, a PE ratio of 14.97, a P/E/G ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 1.31. The company’s 50-day moving average is $116.46 and its 200-day moving average is $119.77. Prudential Financial, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $104.44 and a fifty-two week high of $130.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 0.16 and a quick ratio of 0.16.

Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The financial services provider reported $2.96 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.36 by ($0.40). Prudential Financial had a return on equity of 15.86% and a net margin of 4.01%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Prudential Financial, Inc. will post 14.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Prudential Financial Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be paid a dividend of $1.35 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 18th. This is a positive change from Prudential Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.30. This represents a $5.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.83%. Prudential Financial’s payout ratio is currently 72.29%.

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.