Magnus Financial Group LLC Increases Holdings in Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU)

Magnus Financial Group LLC raised its position in shares of Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU) by 12.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,210 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 244 shares during the period. Magnus Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Prudential Financial were worth $262,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Prudential Financial by 4.5% during the second quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 25,964 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,043,000 after buying an additional 1,122 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co. boosted its position in Prudential Financial by 14.4% during the 2nd quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 66,187 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $7,757,000 after acquiring an additional 8,334 shares in the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Prudential Financial by 1.9% in the 2nd quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 86,902 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $10,184,000 after acquiring an additional 1,598 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Prudential Financial by 20.7% during the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,737 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $218,000 after purchasing an additional 298 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Public Sector Pension Investment Board boosted its position in Prudential Financial by 7.4% during the second quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 60,880 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $7,135,000 after purchasing an additional 4,212 shares in the last quarter. 56.83% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Prudential Financial

In other news, major shareholder Insurance Co Of Ame Prudential acquired 537,249 shares of Prudential Financial stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 25th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $27.92 per share, for a total transaction of $14,999,992.08. Following the acquisition, the insider now owns 4,780,293 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $133,465,780.56. This trade represents a 12.66 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.31% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently commented on PRU. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Prudential Financial from $129.00 to $127.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Bank of America increased their price objective on Prudential Financial from $109.00 to $118.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Piper Sandler reduced their target price on Prudential Financial from $127.00 to $124.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Evercore ISI raised Prudential Financial from an “underperform” rating to an “inline” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $117.00 to $140.00 in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on shares of Prudential Financial from $149.00 to $152.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Prudential Financial presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $127.25.

Prudential Financial Stock Down 2.5 %

Shares of NYSE:PRU opened at $117.32 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $41.76 billion, a PE ratio of 10.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 1.31. Prudential Financial, Inc. has a 1 year low of $100.60 and a 1 year high of $130.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 0.14 and a quick ratio of 0.14. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $121.84 and its two-hundred day moving average is $120.71.

Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $3.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.47 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $19.48 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 prior year, the business earned $3.44 EPS. Analysts predict that Prudential Financial, Inc. will post 13.26 EPS for the current year.

Prudential Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared 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 of this dividend was Tuesday, November 19th. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.43%. Prudential Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 46.22%.

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.