Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU) Shares Bought by Federated Hermes Inc.

Federated Hermes Inc. increased its position in shares of Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU) by 0.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 601,006 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,220 shares during the quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. owned 0.17% of Prudential Financial worth $62,330,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PRU. Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. bought a new stake in shares of Prudential Financial during the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Prudential Financial during the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Headinvest LLC bought a new stake in shares of Prudential Financial in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Pacific Center for Financial Services bought a new position in Prudential Financial during the 1st quarter worth $27,000. Finally, Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC bought a new stake in Prudential Financial in the second quarter valued at $28,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 56.83% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Prudential Financial

In other Prudential Financial news, SVP Timothy L. Schmidt sold 7,912 shares of the firm’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 transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 14,754 shares in the company, valued at $1,595,350.02. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In related news, SVP Timothy L. Schmidt sold 7,912 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 29th. The stock was 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 directly owns 14,754 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,595,350.02. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Andrew F. Sullivan sold 7,685 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $111.57, for a total transaction of $857,415.45. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 13,691 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,527,504.87. 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.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PRU has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Prudential Financial from $109.00 to $117.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on Prudential Financial from $104.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Raymond James cut shares of Prudential Financial from a “strong-buy” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 9th. TheStreet raised shares of Prudential Financial from a “c+” rating to an “a-” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 6th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Prudential Financial from $100.00 to $106.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have given a hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Prudential Financial currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $111.33.

Prudential Financial Price Performance

NYSE PRU opened at $108.70 on Friday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $111.20 and a 200-day simple moving average of $102.94. Prudential Financial, Inc. has a 52-week low of $77.22 and a 52-week high of $118.69. The firm has a market capitalization of $39.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.73 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.13 and a quick ratio of 0.13.

Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 6th. The financial services provider reported $2.58 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.67 by ($0.09). The firm had revenue of $13.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 for the quarter was up 6.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.42 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Prudential Financial, Inc. will post 13.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Prudential Financial Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 20th were issued a dividend of $1.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 16th. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.78%. This is an increase from Prudential Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.25. Prudential Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 77.73%.

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.