15,680 Shares in Prudential Financial, Inc. $PRU Purchased by Econ Financial Services Corp

Econ Financial Services Corp acquired a new stake in Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 15,680 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,532,000.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of PRU. Jessup Wealth Management Inc acquired a new position in shares of Prudential Financial in the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Garton & Associates Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Prudential Financial during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Salomon & Ludwin LLC lifted its stake in Prudential Financial by 98.3% during the fourth quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 230 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 114 shares during the last quarter. Lodestone Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Prudential Financial during the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Finally, Basepoint Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Prudential Financial in the fourth quarter worth $30,000. Institutional investors own 56.83% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have weighed in on PRU. Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of Prudential Financial from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $124.00 to $98.00 in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Evercore reaffirmed a “negative” rating on shares of Prudential Financial in a report on Friday, March 6th. Mizuho boosted their price objective on shares of Prudential Financial from $96.00 to $101.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. UBS Group cut their target price on shares of Prudential Financial from $105.00 to $98.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 9th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded Prudential Financial from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Friday, June 12th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and five have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Prudential Financial has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $101.92.

Prudential Financial Price Performance

NYSE PRU opened at $108.38 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $102.51 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $104.28. Prudential Financial, Inc. has a 52 week low of $91.89 and a 52 week high of $119.76. The stock has a market cap of $37.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a current ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 0.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58.

Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The financial services provider reported $3.61 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.09 by $0.52. The company had revenue of $15.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.10 billion. Prudential Financial had a return on equity of 16.33% and a net margin of 5.83%.During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.29 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Prudential Financial, Inc. will post 13.81 EPS for the current year.

Prudential Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 11th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 26th were paid a dividend of $1.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 26th. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.2%. Prudential Financial’s payout ratio is presently 57.61%.

About Prudential Financial

Prudential Financial, Inc, headquartered in Newark, New Jersey, is a diversified financial services company with roots dating to 1875. The firm provides a range of insurance, retirement and investment products aimed at helping individual and institutional clients manage risk, accumulate and protect wealth, and plan for retirement. Prudential’s long history in life insurance and related financial services has positioned it as a major participant in the U.S. insurance market and a provider of services to a broad client base.

Prudential’s core business activities include individual life insurance, annuities, retirement solutions and group insurance products for employers.