Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC Grows Stake in Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU)

Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU) by 89.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 4,741 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,238 shares during the quarter. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Prudential Financial were worth $492,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of PRU. Fairfield Bush & CO. bought a new position in Prudential Financial in the 1st quarter worth $36,000. Blair William & Co. IL raised its holdings in Prudential Financial by 11.3% in the 1st quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 50,600 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,979,000 after purchasing an additional 5,126 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co. raised its holdings in Prudential Financial by 6.4% in the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 90,235 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $10,698,000 after purchasing an additional 5,452 shares during the period. Candriam Luxembourg S.C.A. raised its holdings in Prudential Financial by 0.7% in the 1st quarter. Candriam Luxembourg S.C.A. now owns 47,576 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,621,000 after purchasing an additional 326 shares during the period. Finally, Baird Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in Prudential Financial by 36.4% in the 1st quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 135,716 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $16,037,000 after purchasing an additional 36,184 shares during the period. 56.83% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Prudential Financial Trading Up 1.0 %

Shares of PRU stock opened at $117.02 on Thursday. Prudential Financial, Inc. has a 12-month low of $77.22 and a 12-month high of $117.17. The company has a current ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 0.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $108.22 and its 200-day moving average price is $101.04. The stock has a market capitalization of $42.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 1.36.

Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 6th. The financial services provider reported $2.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.67 by ($0.09). The firm had revenue of $13.02 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.99 billion. Prudential Financial had a return on equity of 14.52% and a net margin of 4.89%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.42 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Prudential Financial, Inc. will post 13.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Prudential Financial Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 14th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 20th were given a $1.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 16th. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.44%. This is a positive change from Prudential Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.25. Prudential Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 77.73%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Robert Axel sold 6,436 shares of Prudential Financial stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $111.86, for a total value of $719,930.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 7,901 shares in the company, valued at $883,805.86. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Prudential Financial news, major shareholder Pgim Strategic Investments, In bought 1,191,895 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 2nd. The stock was acquired at an average price of $25.17 per share, for a total transaction of $29,999,997.15. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 4,056,632 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $102,105,427.44. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Robert Axel sold 6,436 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $111.86, for a total value of $719,930.96. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 7,901 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $883,805.86. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 29,255 shares of company stock worth $3,215,664. Corporate insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have commented on PRU shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $118.00 price target (down from $119.00) on shares of Prudential Financial in a report on Wednesday, January 3rd. TheStreet raised Prudential Financial from a “c+” rating to an “a-” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 6th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Prudential Financial from $105.00 to $109.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 7th. Raymond James cut Prudential Financial from a “strong-buy” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, February 9th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price target on Prudential Financial from $108.00 to $112.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, February 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have issued a hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Prudential Financial currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $105.60.

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.