Cerity Partners LLC Raises Position in Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU)

Cerity Partners LLC lifted its stake in Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU) by 4.0% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 130,778 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 5,011 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC’s holdings in Prudential Financial were worth $15,837,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of PRU. Creekmur Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Prudential Financial by 78.8% during the first quarter. Creekmur Asset Management LLC now owns 245 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 108 shares during the period. Lynx Investment Advisory purchased a new position in shares of Prudential Financial during the 2nd quarter worth about $29,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new position in Prudential Financial during the 3rd quarter valued at about $31,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC raised its position in Prudential Financial by 1,312.4% in the 2nd quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 26,934 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 25,027 shares during the period. Finally, Bank & Trust Co bought a new stake in Prudential Financial in the second quarter worth about $37,000. Institutional investors own 56.83% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Caroline Feeney sold 1,110 shares of Prudential Financial stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $119.97, for a total transaction of $133,166.70. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 10,175 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,220,694.75. The trade was a 9.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Insurance Co Of Ame Prudential bought 261,059 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 8th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $27.58 per share, for a total transaction of $7,200,007.22. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 4,208,549 shares in the company, valued at $116,071,781.42. This trade represents a 6.61 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.34% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Evercore ISI upgraded Prudential Financial from an “underperform” rating to an “inline” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $117.00 to $140.00 in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Piper Sandler increased their target price on Prudential Financial from $121.00 to $127.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Prudential Financial from $112.00 to $119.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 13th. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Prudential Financial from $118.00 to $119.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued a “market perform” rating and issued a $121.00 price objective on shares of Prudential Financial in a research report on Wednesday, August 21st. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Prudential Financial has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $125.69.

Prudential Financial Trading Up 0.6 %

PRU opened at $128.72 on Tuesday. Prudential Financial, Inc. has a 12 month low of $94.92 and a 12 month high of $129.69. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $123.52 and a 200-day moving average price of $119.82. The firm has a market cap of $45.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.44, a PEG ratio of 0.91 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a current ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 0.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60.

Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $3.48 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.47 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $19.48 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.57 billion. Prudential Financial had a net margin of 6.03% and a return on equity of 15.30%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $3.44 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Prudential Financial, Inc. will post 13.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Prudential Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 19th will be given a $1.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 19th. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.04%. Prudential Financial’s payout ratio is 46.22%.

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.