Principal Financial Group Inc. Trims Stock Position in Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU)

Principal Financial Group Inc. lessened its holdings in Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU) by 1.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 412,229 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 7,504 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.12% of Prudential Financial worth $48,862,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Glenmede Trust Co. NA increased its stake in shares of Prudential Financial by 7.4% in the 3rd quarter. Glenmede Trust Co. NA now owns 17,968 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,176,000 after purchasing an additional 1,234 shares in the last quarter. Avanza Fonder AB purchased a new position in shares of Prudential Financial in the 4th quarter valued at about $3,423,000. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC increased its stake in shares of Prudential Financial by 56.1% in the 4th quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC now owns 21,998 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,607,000 after purchasing an additional 7,907 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its stake in shares of Prudential Financial by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 79,256 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $9,597,000 after purchasing an additional 1,765 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Horizon Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Prudential Financial by 4.3% in the 3rd quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 162,685 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $19,701,000 after purchasing an additional 6,641 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 56.83% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, major shareholder Insurance Co Of Ame Prudential purchased 537,249 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 25th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $27.92 per share, for a total transaction of $14,999,992.08. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider now directly owns 4,780,293 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $133,465,780.56. This trade represents a 12.66 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.31% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Prudential Financial Trading Down 0.5 %

PRU opened at $111.08 on Friday. Prudential Financial, Inc. has a one year low of $104.44 and a one year high of $130.55. The stock has a market capitalization of $39.77 billion, a PE ratio of 14.87, a P/E/G ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 1.31. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $117.10 and its 200 day moving average price is $119.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.16 and a current ratio of 0.16.

Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The financial services provider reported $2.96 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.36 by ($0.40). Prudential Financial had a return on equity of 15.86% and a net margin of 4.01%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Prudential Financial, Inc. will post 14.34 EPS for the current year.

Prudential Financial Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be paid a dividend of $1.35 per share. This represents a $5.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.86%. This is a boost from Prudential Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.30. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 18th. Prudential Financial’s dividend payout ratio is 72.29%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price target on Prudential Financial from $129.00 to $125.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Barclays boosted their price objective on Prudential Financial from $128.00 to $134.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Piper Sandler cut their price objective on Prudential Financial from $127.00 to $124.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Evercore ISI upgraded Prudential Financial from an “underperform” rating to an “inline” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $117.00 to $140.00 in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Finally, TD Cowen boosted their price objective on Prudential Financial from $130.00 to $133.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $125.69.

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.