Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU) is Disciplined Equity Management Inc.’s 10th Largest Position

Disciplined Equity Management Inc. lowered its stake in Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU) by 2.3% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 16,848 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 400 shares during the period. Prudential Financial accounts for about 1.3% of Disciplined Equity Management Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 10th largest holding. Disciplined Equity Management Inc.’s holdings in Prudential Financial were worth $1,978,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Prudential Financial by 13.9% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 42,292,853 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,386,192,000 after acquiring an additional 5,154,865 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $141,962,000 after acquiring an additional 1,354,248 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Prudential Financial during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $113,478,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in Prudential Financial by 10.8% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,000,665 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $414,926,000 after purchasing an additional 388,363 shares during the period. Finally, abrdn plc boosted its holdings in Prudential Financial by 37.5% in the fourth quarter. abrdn plc now owns 1,107,210 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $114,829,000 after purchasing an additional 302,164 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 56.83% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on PRU. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Prudential Financial from $100.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on Prudential Financial from $118.00 to $121.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday. Piper Sandler reduced their price target on Prudential Financial from $125.00 to $121.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, May 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Prudential Financial from $118.00 to $128.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their price target on Prudential Financial from $115.00 to $116.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $116.67.

Insider Activity at Prudential Financial

In other news, SVP Timothy L. Schmidt sold 5,189 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $116.58, for a total value of $604,933.62. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 12,236 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,426,472.88. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, SVP Timothy L. Schmidt sold 5,189 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $116.58, for a total transaction of $604,933.62. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 12,236 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,426,472.88. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Robert Falzon sold 130,092 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $118.57, for a total value of $15,425,008.44. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 202,083 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,960,981.31. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Prudential Financial Price Performance

PRU stock traded up $1.99 during trading on Thursday, hitting $122.38. 1,397,217 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,459,671. Prudential Financial, Inc. has a 52 week low of $87.95 and a 52 week high of $122.47. The stock has a market capitalization of $43.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.74, a P/E/G ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 1.34. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $117.45 and a 200 day simple moving average of $111.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.13 and a current ratio of 0.13.

Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The financial services provider reported $3.12 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.16 by ($0.04). Prudential Financial had a net margin of 3.76% and a return on equity of 15.50%. The business had revenue of $15.01 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.50 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.66 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 69.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Prudential Financial, Inc. will post 13.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Prudential Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 13th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 21st were given a dividend of $1.30 per share. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.25%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 20th. Prudential Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 88.44%.

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.