MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB Lowers Holdings in Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU)

MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB lowered its stake in shares of Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU) by 1.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 67,697 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 920 shares during the period. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB’s holdings in Prudential Financial were worth $8,024,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Grove Bank & Trust lifted its position in shares of Prudential Financial by 65.9% in the fourth quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 219 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 87 shares in the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Prudential Financial during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $31,000. Quarry LP boosted its position in shares of Prudential Financial by 376.3% during the 3rd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 281 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 222 shares during the last quarter. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC purchased a new position in shares of Prudential Financial in the fourth quarter valued at $37,000. Finally, Tompkins Financial Corp raised its stake in Prudential Financial by 61.7% during the third quarter. Tompkins Financial Corp now owns 367 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 140 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 56.83% of the company’s stock.

Prudential Financial Stock Up 0.5 %

NYSE:PRU opened at $118.98 on Monday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $122.06 and a 200-day simple moving average of $120.67. The company has a current ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 0.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60. The company has a market cap of $42.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 1.31. Prudential Financial, Inc. has a twelve month low of $100.60 and a twelve month high of $130.55.

Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $3.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.47 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $19.48 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.57 billion. Prudential Financial had a net margin of 6.03% and a return on equity of 15.30%. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $3.44 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Prudential Financial, Inc. will post 13.34 EPS for the current year.

Prudential Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 12th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 19th were issued a dividend of $1.30 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, November 19th. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.37%. Prudential Financial’s payout ratio is currently 46.22%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Prudential Financial

In other Prudential Financial news, major shareholder Insurance Co Of Ame Prudential acquired 537,249 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 25th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $27.92 per share, with a total value of $14,999,992.08. Following the completion of the acquisition, the insider now directly owns 4,780,293 shares in the company, valued at $133,465,780.56. This represents a 12.66 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have commented on PRU. Evercore ISI raised shares of Prudential Financial from an “underperform” rating to an “inline” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $117.00 to $140.00 in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Barclays dropped their price target on Prudential Financial from $129.00 to $127.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on Prudential Financial from $149.00 to $152.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on Prudential Financial from $117.00 to $115.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Bank of America increased their price target on Prudential Financial from $109.00 to $118.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Prudential Financial presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $127.25.

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.