Freestone Capital Holdings LLC Purchases 7,621 Shares of Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU)

Freestone Capital Holdings LLC lifted its position in shares of Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU) by 316.9% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 10,026 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 7,621 shares during the period. Freestone Capital Holdings LLC’s holdings in Prudential Financial were worth $1,177,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Prudential Financial by 13.9% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 42,292,853 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,386,192,000 after acquiring an additional 5,154,865 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Prudential Financial by 9,281.4% during the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,368,839 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $141,962,000 after acquiring an additional 1,354,248 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Prudential Financial during the 4th quarter worth $113,478,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of Prudential Financial by 10.8% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,000,665 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $414,926,000 after acquiring an additional 388,363 shares during the last quarter. Finally, abrdn plc lifted its stake in shares of Prudential Financial by 37.5% during the 4th quarter. abrdn plc now owns 1,107,210 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $114,829,000 after buying an additional 302,164 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 56.83% of the company’s stock.

Prudential Financial Trading Up 0.6 %

Prudential Financial stock traded up $0.80 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $123.89. The company had a trading volume of 413,710 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,441,999. The firm has a market cap of $44.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.93, a P/E/G ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 1.34. 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, Inc. has a 1 year low of $87.95 and a 1 year high of $128.52. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $119.14 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $113.25.

Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 30th. The financial services provider reported $3.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.16 by ($0.04). Prudential Financial had a net margin of 3.76% and a return on equity of 15.50%. The company had revenue of $15.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.50 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.66 earnings per share. Prudential Financial’s quarterly revenue was up 69.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Prudential Financial, Inc. will post 13.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Prudential Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 13th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 21st were given a dividend of $1.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 20th. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.20%. Prudential Financial’s payout ratio is 88.44%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PRU has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Prudential Financial from $118.00 to $128.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 2nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on shares of Prudential Financial from $118.00 to $121.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 8th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Prudential Financial from $100.00 to $106.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their target price on shares of Prudential Financial from $143.00 to $141.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, June 28th. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their price target on shares of Prudential Financial from $115.00 to $116.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Prudential Financial presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $116.92.

Insider Activity at Prudential Financial

In other news, major shareholder Insurance Co Of Ame Prudential purchased 652,884 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 20th. The shares were bought at an average price of $27.57 per share, for a total transaction of $18,000,011.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 3,883,390 shares in the company, valued at $107,065,062.30. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Prudential Financial news, EVP Robert Falzon sold 130,092 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $118.57, for a total transaction of $15,425,008.44. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 202,083 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,960,981.31. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Insurance Co Of Ame Prudential acquired 652,884 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 20th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $27.57 per share, for a total transaction of $18,000,011.88. Following the completion of the acquisition, the insider now owns 3,883,390 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $107,065,062.30. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.31% of the stock is currently owned by corporate 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.