HighTower Advisors LLC Acquires 10,964 Shares of Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU)

HighTower Advisors LLC raised its stake in Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU) by 18.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 69,542 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 10,964 shares during the quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in Prudential Financial were worth $8,395,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Diversify Advisory Services LLC grew its stake in shares of Prudential Financial by 7.2% in the 2nd quarter. Diversify Advisory Services LLC now owns 2,504 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $297,000 after acquiring an additional 169 shares in the last quarter. RFG Advisory LLC grew its position in Prudential Financial by 98.6% in the 2nd quarter. RFG Advisory LLC now owns 9,082 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,064,000 after purchasing an additional 4,508 shares in the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC increased its stake in Prudential Financial by 1.4% in the 2nd quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 7,554 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $885,000 after buying an additional 105 shares during the last quarter. WASHINGTON TRUST Co boosted its stake in shares of Prudential Financial by 33.4% in the 2nd quarter. WASHINGTON TRUST Co now owns 1,258 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $147,000 after buying an additional 315 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wedmont Private Capital grew its holdings in shares of Prudential Financial by 17.4% in the second quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 3,246 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $400,000 after acquiring an additional 481 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 56.83% of the company’s stock.

Prudential Financial Trading Down 0.6 %

Shares of Prudential Financial stock opened at $126.56 on Monday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $124.92 and its 200-day moving average price is $120.39. The company has a market cap of $45.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.25, a PEG ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 1.29. Prudential Financial, Inc. has a 12-month low of $98.24 and a 12-month high of $130.55. The company has a current ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 0.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60.

Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $3.48 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.47 by $0.01. Prudential Financial had a net margin of 6.03% and a return on equity of 15.30%. The firm had revenue of $19.48 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.57 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $3.44 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Prudential Financial, Inc. will post 13.35 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Prudential Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 19th will be issued a $1.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 19th. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.11%. Prudential Financial’s payout ratio is currently 46.22%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have weighed in on PRU. 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 report on Wednesday, November 27th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Prudential Financial from $116.00 to $117.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Prudential Financial from an “underperform” rating to an “inline” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $117.00 to $140.00 in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of Prudential Financial from $123.00 to $122.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 19th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price objective on Prudential Financial from $112.00 to $119.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 13th. Eleven investment 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $125.42.

Insider Transactions at Prudential Financial

In other news, major shareholder Insurance Co Of Ame Prudential bought 537,249 shares of Prudential Financial stock in a transaction that occurred 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 purchase, the insider now directly owns 4,780,293 shares in the company, valued at $133,465,780.56. The trade was a 12.66 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.31% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.