ProShare Advisors LLC Increases Stock Holdings in Prudential Financial, Inc. $PRU

ProShare Advisors LLC raised its stake in Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU) by 7.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 76,400 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,344 shares during the period. ProShare Advisors LLC’s holdings in Prudential Financial were worth $8,624,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Sunflower Bank N.A. increased its stake in Prudential Financial by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. Sunflower Bank N.A. now owns 2,911 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $329,000 after purchasing an additional 91 shares during the last quarter. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Prudential Financial by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 10,022 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,131,000 after purchasing an additional 94 shares during the last quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC increased its stake in Prudential Financial by 0.3% in the third quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 28,795 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,987,000 after purchasing an additional 97 shares during the last quarter. Transcend Capital Advisors LLC increased its stake in Prudential Financial by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Transcend Capital Advisors LLC now owns 4,175 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $471,000 after purchasing an additional 98 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mindset Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of Prudential Financial by 2.1% during the third quarter. Mindset Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,781 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $496,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. 56.83% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Prudential Financial Stock Performance

NYSE:PRU opened at $104.26 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $97.62 and its 200 day moving average price is $104.58. Prudential Financial, Inc. has a 1-year low of $91.89 and a 1-year high of $119.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 0.16 and a quick ratio of 0.16. The firm has a market cap of $36.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 0.86.

Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The financial services provider reported $3.61 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.09 by $0.52. Prudential Financial had a return on equity of 16.33% and a net margin of 5.83%.The company had revenue of $15.23 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.10 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $3.29 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Prudential Financial, Inc. will post 13.71 EPS for the current year.

Prudential Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 11th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 26th will be issued a $1.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 26th. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.4%. Prudential Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 57.61%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on shares of Prudential Financial from $100.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 13th. Piper Sandler raised their target price on shares of Prudential Financial from $99.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, May 11th. Bank of America lowered their target price on shares of Prudential Financial from $112.00 to $104.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 14th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on shares of Prudential Financial from $91.00 to $87.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Prudential Financial from $93.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 12th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and six have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Prudential Financial presently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $101.50.

About Prudential Financial

Prudential Financial, Inc, headquartered in Newark, New Jersey, is a diversified financial services company with roots dating to 1875. The firm provides a range of insurance, retirement and investment products aimed at helping individual and institutional clients manage risk, accumulate and protect wealth, and plan for retirement. Prudential’s long history in life insurance and related financial services has positioned it as a major participant in the U.S. insurance market and a provider of services to a broad client base.

Prudential’s core business activities include individual life insurance, annuities, retirement solutions and group insurance products for employers.