Aptus Capital Advisors LLC Buys 275 Shares of Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU)

Aptus Capital Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU) by 5.2% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 5,527 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 275 shares during the period. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Prudential Financial were worth $669,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Creekmur Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Prudential Financial by 78.8% in the first quarter. Creekmur Asset Management LLC now owns 245 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 108 shares during the period. Lynx Investment Advisory purchased a new position in shares of Prudential Financial in the second quarter worth about $29,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new stake in shares of Prudential Financial in the third quarter worth about $31,000. Crewe Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Prudential Financial in the first quarter worth about $33,000. Finally, ESL Trust Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of Prudential Financial in the first quarter worth about $34,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 56.83% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently issued reports on PRU. Argus raised Prudential Financial to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on Prudential Financial from $123.00 to $122.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 19th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Prudential Financial from $104.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on Prudential Financial from $121.00 to $127.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Barclays boosted their price target on Prudential Financial from $118.00 to $119.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $125.69.

Prudential Financial Trading Up 1.3 %

Shares of PRU stock opened at $127.41 on Friday. Prudential Financial, Inc. has a 1 year low of $93.32 and a 1 year high of $129.13. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $121.92 and a 200-day moving average price of $119.11. 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 company has a market cap of $45.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.33, a PEG ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 1.29.

Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $3.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.44 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Prudential Financial, Inc. will post 13.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Prudential Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 19th will be issued a dividend of $1.30 per share. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.08%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 19th. Prudential Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 46.22%.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Ann M. Kappler sold 2,839 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $113.43, for a total value of $322,027.77. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 14,535 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,648,705.05. The trade was a 16.34 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Insurance Co Of Ame Prudential purchased 261,059 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 8th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $27.58 per share, for a total transaction of $7,200,007.22. Following the purchase, the insider now owns 4,208,549 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $116,071,781.42. This represents a 6.61 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Company insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

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.