Redwood Investment Management LLC Acquires New Stake in Prudential Financial, Inc. $PRU

Redwood Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU) in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 7,942 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $776,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of PRU. Jessup Wealth Management Inc purchased a new stake in Prudential Financial during the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Garton & Associates Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Prudential Financial in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Salomon & Ludwin LLC grew its holdings in shares of Prudential Financial by 98.3% in the fourth quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 230 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 114 shares in the last quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. increased its stake in Prudential Financial by 93.1% during the 1st quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 278 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 134 shares during the period. Finally, Coston McIsaac & Partners increased its stake in Prudential Financial by 93.4% during the 4th quarter. Coston McIsaac & Partners now owns 265 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 128 shares during the period. 56.83% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Prudential Financial news, major shareholder Insurance Co Of Ame Prudential sold 214,746 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.75, for a total value of $5,314,963.50. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 7,973,657 shares in the company, valued at $197,348,010.75. This trade represents a 2.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.05% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have commented on PRU shares. 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 report on Thursday, April 9th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “underweight” rating and set a $92.00 price objective (down from $106.00) on shares of Prudential Financial in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on Prudential Financial from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, July 10th. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on Prudential Financial from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 24th. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on Prudential Financial from $90.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and five have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $105.46.

Prudential Financial Trading Up 0.7%

NYSE PRU opened at $122.92 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 0.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58. Prudential Financial, Inc. has a 52 week low of $91.89 and a 52 week high of $124.57. The stock has a market capitalization of $42.65 billion, a PE ratio of 12.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 0.84. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $111.24 and a two-hundred day moving average of $104.49.

Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 5th. The financial services provider reported $3.61 EPS 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 company had revenue of $15.23 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.10 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $3.29 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Prudential Financial, Inc. will post 13.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Prudential Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 11th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 26th were paid a dividend of $1.40 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 26th. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.6%. 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.