Csenge Advisory Group Raises Stock Holdings in Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU)

Csenge Advisory Group raised its position in shares of Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU) by 92.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,102 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,970 shares during the quarter. Csenge Advisory Group’s holdings in Prudential Financial were worth $486,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of PRU. AMF Tjanstepension AB grew its holdings in Prudential Financial by 12.5% in the third quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 203,197 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $24,642,000 after purchasing an additional 22,588 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake in shares of Prudential Financial by 90.4% in the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 4,843 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $567,000 after buying an additional 2,300 shares during the last quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC raised its stake in Prudential Financial by 0.9% during the third quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 279,890 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $33,895,000 after buying an additional 2,569 shares during the last quarter. Venture Visionary Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Prudential Financial by 2.6% in the third quarter. Venture Visionary Partners LLC now owns 27,056 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,277,000 after acquiring an additional 673 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Foundations Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Prudential Financial by 32.8% in the third quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 5,235 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $634,000 after acquiring an additional 1,294 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 56.83% of the company’s stock.

Prudential Financial Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE:PRU opened at $111.71 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $117.65 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $119.70. The stock has a market capitalization of $39.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.95, a PEG ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 1.31. Prudential Financial, Inc. has a 52-week low of $104.44 and a 52-week high of $130.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.14 and a current ratio of 0.16.

Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The financial services provider reported $2.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.36 by ($0.40). Prudential Financial had a net margin of 4.01% and a return on equity of 15.86%. Analysts expect that Prudential Financial, Inc. will post 14.38 EPS for the current year.

Prudential Financial Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be given a dividend of $1.35 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 18th. This is an increase from Prudential Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.30. This represents a $5.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.83%. Prudential Financial’s payout ratio is 69.61%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Prudential Financial

In other news, major shareholder Insurance Co Of Ame Prudential purchased 537,249 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 25th. The shares were acquired at an average price 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 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 legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.31% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PRU has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Piper Sandler dropped their price target on shares of Prudential Financial from $127.00 to $124.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. TD Cowen upped their target price on shares of Prudential Financial from $130.00 to $133.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Prudential Financial from $117.00 to $115.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Barclays upped their price objective on Prudential Financial from $128.00 to $134.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on Prudential Financial from $149.00 to $152.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $125.46.

Prudential Financial Profile

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.