Tower Bridge Advisors Grows Holdings in Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU)

Tower Bridge Advisors boosted its stake in Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU) by 1.3% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 8,650 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 108 shares during the period. Tower Bridge Advisors’ holdings in Prudential Financial were worth $1,025,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Grove Bank & Trust grew its stake in shares of Prudential Financial by 65.9% in the fourth quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 219 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 87 shares in the last quarter. Centricity Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Prudential Financial during the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new position in Prudential Financial in the 3rd quarter valued at about $31,000. CGC Financial Services LLC increased its stake in Prudential Financial by 82.1% during the fourth quarter. CGC Financial Services LLC now owns 275 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 124 shares during the period. Finally, Wingate Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Prudential Financial during the fourth quarter worth about $33,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 56.83% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Evercore ISI raised shares of Prudential Financial from an “underperform” rating to an “inline” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $117.00 to $140.00 in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Piper Sandler cut their price objective on Prudential Financial from $127.00 to $124.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. BMO Capital Markets started coverage on Prudential Financial in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $101.00 target price for the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price target on Prudential Financial from $129.00 to $125.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Prudential Financial from $113.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Prudential Financial currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $126.15.

Prudential Financial Stock Up 2.1 %

PRU stock opened at $115.07 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $41.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.40, a PEG ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 1.31. The company has a current ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 0.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. Prudential Financial, Inc. has a twelve month low of $104.44 and a twelve month high of $130.55. The company’s 50 day moving average is $116.35 and its two-hundred day moving average is $119.77.

Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The financial services provider reported $2.96 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.36 by ($0.40). Prudential Financial had a return on equity of 15.86% and a net margin of 4.01%. Research analysts expect that Prudential Financial, Inc. will post 14.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Prudential Financial Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be given a $1.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 18th. This is a boost from Prudential Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.30. This represents a $5.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.69%. Prudential Financial’s dividend payout ratio is 72.29%.

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.