Great Lakes Retirement Inc. Grows Holdings in Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU)

Great Lakes Retirement Inc. grew its stake in shares of Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU) by 3.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 7,193 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 262 shares during the period. Great Lakes Retirement Inc.’s holdings in Prudential Financial were worth $746,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. FMR LLC grew its holdings in Prudential Financial by 2.9% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,315,215 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $124,801,000 after acquiring an additional 36,599 shares in the last quarter. Czech National Bank boosted its holdings in shares of Prudential Financial by 46.8% in the 3rd quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 63,444 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $6,020,000 after buying an additional 20,235 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Prudential Financial by 14.5% in the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 268,728 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $25,500,000 after buying an additional 34,054 shares during the period. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd boosted its stake in Prudential Financial by 17.2% during the 4th quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd now owns 868,535 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $90,076,000 after purchasing an additional 127,772 shares during the period. Finally, Allen Mooney & Barnes Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Prudential Financial during the 3rd quarter valued at about $9,507,000. 56.83% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Prudential Financial Stock Up 0.5 %

NYSE PRU traded up $0.58 on Thursday, reaching $117.60. The stock had a trading volume of 670,433 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,567,450. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $108.22 and a 200 day moving average price of $101.04. The company has a current ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 0.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. Prudential Financial, Inc. has a 1 year low of $77.22 and a 1 year high of $117.92. The company has a market capitalization of $42.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.55, a P/E/G ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 1.36.

Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 6th. The financial services provider reported $2.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.67 by ($0.09). The company had revenue of $13.02 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.99 billion. Prudential Financial had a return on equity of 14.52% and a net margin of 4.89%. The business’s revenue was up 6.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.42 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Prudential Financial, Inc. will post 13.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Prudential Financial Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 14th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 20th were given a dividend of $1.30 per share. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.42%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 16th. This is a boost from Prudential Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.25. Prudential Financial’s payout ratio is currently 77.73%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Timothy L. Schmidt sold 7,912 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $108.13, for a total transaction of $855,524.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 14,754 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,595,350.02. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, SVP Robert Axel sold 6,436 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $111.86, for a total value of $719,930.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 7,901 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $883,805.86. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Timothy L. Schmidt sold 7,912 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $108.13, for a total value of $855,524.56. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 14,754 shares in the company, valued at $1,595,350.02. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 29,255 shares of company stock valued at $3,215,664. Insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have issued reports on PRU shares. Raymond James lowered shares of Prudential Financial from a “strong-buy” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 9th. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Prudential Financial from $108.00 to $112.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, February 12th. TheStreet raised shares of Prudential Financial from a “c+” rating to an “a-” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 6th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Prudential Financial from $105.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 7th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $118.00 price target (down previously from $119.00) on shares of Prudential Financial in a report on Wednesday, January 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have assigned a hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $105.60.

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.