Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management Buys Shares of 2,085 Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU)

Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management purchased a new position in shares of Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 2,085 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $216,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Morgan Stanley boosted its position in Prudential Financial by 0.9% during the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 6,317,338 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $599,452,000 after purchasing an additional 57,531 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in shares of Prudential Financial by 4.8% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 4,353,086 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $413,064,000 after buying an additional 197,422 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in Prudential Financial by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,273,916 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $215,772,000 after acquiring an additional 38,229 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its position in Prudential Financial by 9,281.4% during the fourth 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. Finally, FMR LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Prudential Financial by 2.9% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,315,215 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $124,801,000 after purchasing an additional 36,599 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 56.83% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Timothy L. Schmidt sold 7,912 shares of Prudential Financial stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $108.13, for a total transaction of $855,524.56. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 14,754 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,595,350.02. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Prudential Financial news, EVP Ann M. Kappler sold 7,222 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $108.39, for a total value of $782,792.58. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 24,381 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,642,656.59. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Timothy L. Schmidt sold 7,912 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $108.13, for a total transaction of $855,524.56. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 14,754 shares in the company, valued at $1,595,350.02. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 34,444 shares of company stock worth $3,820,597 over the last ninety days. 0.34% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Prudential Financial Stock Up 1.1 %

Shares of NYSE PRU opened at $117.97 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 0.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. The stock has a market capitalization of $42.35 billion, a PE ratio of 20.06, a P/E/G ratio of 0.83 and a beta of 1.35. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $112.65 and a 200-day moving average of $104.87. Prudential Financial, Inc. has a 52-week low of $77.87 and a 52-week high of $118.69.

Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The financial services provider reported $3.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.16 by ($0.04). The firm had revenue of $15.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.50 billion. Prudential Financial had a net margin of 3.76% and a return on equity of 15.50%. Prudential Financial’s revenue was up 69.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.66 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Prudential Financial, Inc. will post 13.36 EPS for the current year.

Prudential Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 13th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 21st will be given a dividend of $1.30 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 20th. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.41%. Prudential Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 88.44%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PRU has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Prudential Financial from $100.00 to $106.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on Prudential Financial from $125.00 to $121.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. Raymond James cut Prudential Financial from a “strong-buy” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 9th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Prudential Financial from $109.00 to $117.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Finally, TheStreet raised shares of Prudential Financial from a “c+” rating to an “a-” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 6th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have given a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Prudential Financial presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $111.08.

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.