Merit Financial Group LLC Purchases 576 Shares of Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU)

Merit Financial Group LLC grew its position in Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU) by 23.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 3,028 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 576 shares during the quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Prudential Financial were worth $314,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Cambridge Trust Co. increased its stake in Prudential Financial by 77.2% in the 4th quarter. Cambridge Trust Co. now owns 241 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 105 shares in the last quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC bought a new stake in Prudential Financial during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Headinvest LLC bought a new position in Prudential Financial in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Arlington Trust Co LLC grew its holdings in Prudential Financial by 151.6% during the 4th quarter. Arlington Trust Co LLC now owns 307 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 185 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ritter Daniher Financial Advisory LLC DE bought a new position in shares of Prudential Financial during the third quarter worth $39,000. 56.83% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Timothy L. Schmidt sold 7,912 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $108.13, for a total transaction of $855,524.56. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 14,754 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,595,350.02. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, SVP Timothy L. Schmidt sold 7,912 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $108.13, for a total value of $855,524.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 14,754 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,595,350.02. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Ann M. Kappler sold 7,222 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $108.39, for a total transaction of $782,792.58. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 24,381 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,642,656.59. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 29,255 shares of company stock worth $3,215,664 in the last 90 days. 0.34% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Prudential Financial Stock Performance

Prudential Financial stock opened at $116.72 on Thursday. Prudential Financial, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $77.87 and a fifty-two week high of $118.69. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $112.48 and a 200-day moving average price of $104.78. The company has a market capitalization of $41.90 billion, a PE ratio of 19.85, a P/E/G ratio of 0.83 and a beta of 1.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.13 and a current ratio of 0.13.

Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The financial services provider reported $3.12 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.16 by ($0.04). Prudential Financial had a return on equity of 15.50% and a net margin of 3.76%. The company had revenue of $15.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.50 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.66 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 69.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Prudential Financial, Inc. will post 13.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Prudential Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 13th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 21st will be given a $1.30 dividend. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.46%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 20th. Prudential Financial’s payout ratio is currently 88.44%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PRU has been the topic of several research reports. Piper Sandler reduced their target price on Prudential Financial from $125.00 to $121.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Prudential Financial from $108.00 to $112.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 12th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on shares of Prudential Financial from $112.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Evercore ISI increased their price target on shares of Prudential Financial from $115.00 to $116.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Prudential Financial from $109.00 to $117.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have assigned a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $111.08.

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.