87,709 Shares in Prudential Financial, Inc. $PRU Acquired by Wealthfront Advisers LLC

Wealthfront Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 87,709 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $9,466,000.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its stake in Prudential Financial by 3.7% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 3,681 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $436,000 after buying an additional 133 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC increased its stake in shares of Prudential Financial by 30.5% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 17,690 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,976,000 after acquiring an additional 4,134 shares during the last quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. increased its stake in shares of Prudential Financial by 3.5% during the 2nd quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 4,164 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $447,000 after acquiring an additional 140 shares during the last quarter. AXA S.A. lifted its holdings in shares of Prudential Financial by 25.8% during the 2nd quarter. AXA S.A. now owns 56,700 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $6,092,000 after acquiring an additional 11,630 shares during the period. Finally, NewEdge Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Prudential Financial by 15.1% in the second quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 37,277 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,005,000 after acquiring an additional 4,895 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 56.83% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PRU has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Prudential Financial from $90.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. Argus cut shares of Prudential Financial from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 9th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Prudential Financial from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, August 8th. Piper Sandler increased their target price on Prudential Financial from $110.00 to $128.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 11th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Prudential Financial from $103.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and five have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Prudential Financial has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $108.31.

Insider Activity

In other Prudential Financial news, EVP Ann M. Kappler sold 7,652 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $125.01, for a total value of $956,576.52. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 14,407 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,801,019.07. This trade represents a 34.69% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Insurance Co Of Ame Prudential sold 214,746 shares of Prudential Financial stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.75, for a total transaction of $5,314,963.50. Following the sale, the insider owned 7,973,657 shares in the company, valued at $197,348,010.75. This represents a 2.62% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Company insiders own 0.05% of the company’s stock.

Prudential Financial Stock Performance

NYSE:PRU opened at $122.21 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 0.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62. The firm has a market capitalization of $42.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.07, a PEG ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.84. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $116.12 and its 200 day simple moving average is $105.53. Prudential Financial, Inc. has a twelve month low of $91.89 and a twelve month high of $127.72.

Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The financial services provider reported $4.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.52 by $0.56. Prudential Financial had a return on equity of 16.68% and a net margin of 6.51%.The firm had revenue of $14.15 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.36 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $3.58 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Prudential Financial, Inc. will post 14.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Prudential Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 25th will be paid a $1.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 25th. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.6%. Prudential Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 50.72%.

Prudential Financial Company Profile

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.