Vise Technologies Inc. Increases Stock Position in Prudential Financial, Inc. $PRU

Vise Technologies Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU) by 114.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 12,035 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 6,433 shares during the quarter. Vise Technologies Inc.’s holdings in Prudential Financial were worth $1,358,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Sunflower Bank N.A. lifted its stake in shares of Prudential Financial by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. Sunflower Bank N.A. now owns 2,911 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $329,000 after buying an additional 91 shares in the last quarter. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Prudential Financial by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 10,022 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,131,000 after buying an additional 94 shares in the last quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Prudential Financial by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 28,795 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,987,000 after buying an additional 97 shares in the last quarter. Transcend Capital Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Prudential Financial by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Transcend Capital Advisors LLC now owns 4,175 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $471,000 after buying an additional 98 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mindset Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Prudential Financial by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. Mindset Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,781 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $496,000 after buying an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. 56.83% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PRU has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Prudential Financial from $89.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of Prudential Financial from $105.00 to $98.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. Zacks Research cut shares of Prudential Financial from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Prudential Financial from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Friday, March 13th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of Prudential Financial from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $124.00 to $98.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and six have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $101.50.

Prudential Financial Stock Performance

NYSE PRU opened at $103.81 on Tuesday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $99.72 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $104.31. The stock has a market capitalization of $36.02 billion, a PE ratio of 10.68, a P/E/G ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 0.86. Prudential Financial, Inc. has a 1 year low of $91.89 and a 1 year high of $119.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 0.16 and a quick ratio of 0.16.

Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The financial services provider reported $3.61 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.09 by $0.52. The firm had revenue of $15.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.10 billion. Prudential Financial had a net margin of 5.83% and a return on equity of 16.33%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.29 EPS. Analysts predict that Prudential Financial, Inc. will post 13.84 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Prudential Financial Dividend Announcement

The business 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 $1.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 26th. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.4%. Prudential Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 57.61%.

Prudential Financial 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.