Legal & General Group Plc Sells 794,214 Shares of Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU)

Legal & General Group Plc lessened its stake in Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU) by 22.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,675,298 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 794,214 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc’s holdings in Prudential Financial were worth $317,103,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Avanza Fonder AB bought a new stake in shares of Prudential Financial during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $3,423,000. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Prudential Financial by 56.1% in the 4th quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC now owns 21,998 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,607,000 after buying an additional 7,907 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Prudential Financial by 3.9% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 419,733 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $50,830,000 after buying an additional 15,695 shares in the last quarter. Asset Allocation & Management Company LLC purchased a new position in shares of Prudential Financial during the fourth quarter valued at $209,000. Finally, Czech National Bank lifted its stake in Prudential Financial by 6.1% in the fourth quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 77,188 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $9,149,000 after acquiring an additional 4,464 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 56.83% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on PRU shares. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on Prudential Financial from $149.00 to $152.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Piper Sandler decreased their target price on Prudential Financial from $124.00 to $122.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. UBS Group lowered their target price on Prudential Financial from $130.00 to $122.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price target on Prudential Financial from $129.00 to $125.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Prudential Financial from $136.00 to $128.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Prudential Financial has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $126.08.

Insider Buying and Selling at Prudential Financial

In related news, EVP Andrew F. Sullivan sold 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.98, for a total value of $635,880.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 27,072 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,869,090.56. This represents a 18.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Insurance Co Of Ame Prudential purchased 52,595 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 25th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $28.52 per share, with a total value of $1,500,009.40. Following the completion of the acquisition, the insider now directly owns 139,987 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,992,429.24. This represents a 60.18 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.31% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Prudential Financial Price Performance

Shares of PRU stock opened at $94.90 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $33.63 billion, a PE ratio of 12.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 0.16 and a quick ratio of 0.16. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $110.46 and its two-hundred day moving average is $118.09. Prudential Financial, Inc. has a 12 month low of $90.38 and a 12 month 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 for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.36 by ($0.40). Prudential Financial had a net margin of 4.01% and a return on equity of 15.86%. Analysts predict that Prudential Financial, Inc. will post 14.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Prudential Financial Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were paid a $1.35 dividend. This is a positive change from Prudential Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.30. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $5.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.69%. Prudential Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 72.29%.

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.