TD Asset Management Inc Purchases 88,761 Shares of Prudential Financial, Inc. $PRU

TD Asset Management Inc grew its position in shares of Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU) by 29.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 392,595 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 88,761 shares during the period. TD Asset Management Inc’s holdings in Prudential Financial were worth $44,316,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Sunflower Bank N.A. raised its stake in shares of Prudential Financial by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. Sunflower Bank N.A. now owns 2,911 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $329,000 after acquiring an additional 91 shares during the last quarter. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Prudential Financial by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 10,022 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,131,000 after acquiring an additional 94 shares during the last quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Prudential Financial by 0.3% during the third quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 28,795 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,987,000 after acquiring an additional 97 shares during the last quarter. Transcend Capital Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Prudential Financial by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Transcend Capital Advisors LLC now owns 4,175 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $471,000 after acquiring an additional 98 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mindset Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Prudential Financial by 2.1% in the third quarter. Mindset Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,781 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $496,000 after buying an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. 56.83% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Prudential Financial Price Performance

Shares of NYSE PRU opened at $104.67 on Friday. Prudential Financial, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $91.89 and a fifty-two week high of $119.76. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $99.54 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $104.30. The company has a market capitalization of $36.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.77, a P/E/G ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a quick ratio of 0.16 and a current ratio of 0.16.

Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU) last announced its 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. Prudential Financial had a net margin of 5.83% and a return on equity of 16.33%. The business had revenue of $15.23 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.10 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $3.29 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Prudential Financial, Inc. will post 13.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Prudential Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 11th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 26th will be issued a dividend of $1.40 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 26th. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.3%. Prudential Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 57.61%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PRU has been the subject of a number of research reports. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of Prudential Financial from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $124.00 to $98.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target on shares of Prudential Financial from $91.00 to $87.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of Prudential Financial from $105.00 to $98.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “underweight” rating and issued a $92.00 price target (down from $106.00) on shares of Prudential Financial in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Prudential Financial from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Friday, March 13th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and six have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $101.50.

Prudential Financial Company Profile

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.