South Dakota Investment Council Has $8.89 Million Stock Position in Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU)

South Dakota Investment Council cut its holdings in shares of Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU) by 3.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 85,758 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 3,500 shares during the period. South Dakota Investment Council’s holdings in Prudential Financial were worth $8,894,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Morgan Stanley raised its position in shares of Prudential Financial by 0.9% during the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 6,317,338 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $599,452,000 after acquiring an additional 57,531 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in shares of Prudential Financial by 4.8% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 4,353,086 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $413,064,000 after buying an additional 197,422 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Prudential Financial by 1.7% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,273,916 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $215,772,000 after buying an additional 38,229 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in Prudential Financial by 9,281.4% during the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,368,839 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $141,962,000 after acquiring an additional 1,354,248 shares during the period. Finally, FMR LLC raised its position in shares of Prudential Financial by 2.9% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,315,215 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $124,801,000 after acquiring an additional 36,599 shares during the last quarter. 56.83% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on PRU shares. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on Prudential Financial from $104.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on shares of Prudential Financial from $114.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Prudential Financial from $100.00 to $106.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Prudential Financial from $109.00 to $117.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Finally, Raymond James lowered Prudential Financial from a “strong-buy” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 9th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have issued a hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $111.33.

Insider Buying and Selling at Prudential Financial

In other news, EVP Ann M. Kappler sold 7,222 shares of Prudential Financial stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $108.39, for a total value of $782,792.58. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 24,381 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,642,656.59. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, EVP Ann M. Kappler sold 7,222 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $108.39, for a total value of $782,792.58. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 24,381 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,642,656.59. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, 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 value of $855,524.56. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 14,754 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,595,350.02. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 29,255 shares of company stock worth $3,215,664 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Prudential Financial Price Performance

Prudential Financial stock traded up $0.31 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $112.36. 452,125 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,507,048. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $111.52 and a 200-day simple moving average of $103.50. The firm has a market cap of $40.34 billion, a PE ratio of 16.81, a PEG ratio of 0.76 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, Inc. has a 12 month low of $77.22 and a 12 month high of $118.69.

Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 6th. The financial services provider reported $2.58 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.67 by ($0.09). Prudential Financial had a net margin of 4.89% and a return on equity of 14.52%. The company had revenue of $13.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.99 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.42 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Prudential Financial, Inc. will post 13.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Prudential Financial Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 14th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 20th were paid a $1.30 dividend. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.63%. This is a boost from Prudential Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.25. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 16th. Prudential Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 77.73%.

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.