Soltis Investment Advisors LLC Makes New $672,000 Investment in Prudential Financial, Inc. $PRU

Soltis Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU) in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 5,918 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $672,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in PRU. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in Prudential Financial during the second quarter worth about $3,507,481,000. State Street Corp grew its position in Prudential Financial by 1.2% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 17,164,760 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,852,593,000 after purchasing an additional 209,179 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in Prudential Financial by 4.6% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,758,545 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $367,089,000 after purchasing an additional 166,641 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its stake in Prudential Financial by 95.3% in the 1st quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 2,556,748 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $249,769,000 after buying an additional 1,247,371 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new stake in Prudential Financial in the 2nd quarter valued at about $209,055,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 56.83% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have commented on PRU. Zacks Research cut shares of Prudential Financial from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Friday, October 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on Prudential Financial from $104.00 to $103.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on Prudential Financial from $105.00 to $100.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, October 19th. Weiss Ratings lowered Prudential Financial from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 14th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Prudential Financial from $127.00 to $124.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 22nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and six have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Prudential Financial presently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $111.27.

Prudential Financial Price Performance

PRU opened at $116.35 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $40.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.54, a PEG ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 0.85. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $116.96 and a 200 day moving average of $108.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a quick ratio of 0.16 and a current ratio of 0.16. Prudential Financial, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $91.89 and a fifty-two week high of $127.72.

Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 4th. The financial services provider reported $4.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.52 by $0.56. The business had revenue of $14.15 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.36 billion. Prudential Financial had a net margin of 6.51% and a return on equity of 16.68%. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $3.58 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Prudential Financial, Inc. will post 13.51 EPS for the current year.

Prudential Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 25th were paid a dividend of $1.40 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 25th. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.8%. Prudential Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 50.72%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Ann Kappler sold 7,652 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $125.01, for a total value of $956,576.52. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 14,407 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,801,019.07. This represents a 34.69% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.05% of the company’s stock.

About Prudential Financial

Prudential Financial, Inc (NYSE: PRU) is a global financial services company that provides insurance, retirement, investment management and related financial products. Founded in Newark, New Jersey, in 1875, the company serves individuals, businesses and institutional investors through a range of businesses and distribution channels.

In the United States, Prudential offers life insurance, annuities, retirement plans and employee benefits, including group life, disability and dental insurance.