Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. Boosts Holdings in Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU)

Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU) by 6.5% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 6,013 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 366 shares during the period. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Prudential Financial were worth $713,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in PRU. Glenmede Trust Co. NA increased its stake in shares of Prudential Financial by 7.4% in the third quarter. Glenmede Trust Co. NA now owns 17,968 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,176,000 after buying an additional 1,234 shares during the last quarter. Avanza Fonder AB bought a new stake in shares of Prudential Financial in the fourth quarter worth $3,423,000. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC increased its stake in shares of Prudential Financial by 56.1% in the fourth quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC now owns 21,998 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,607,000 after buying an additional 7,907 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Prudential Financial by 3.9% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 419,733 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $50,830,000 after buying an additional 15,695 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its stake in shares of Prudential Financial by 2.3% in the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 79,256 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $9,597,000 after buying an additional 1,765 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 56.83% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on PRU. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of Prudential Financial from $136.00 to $128.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Prudential Financial from $113.00 to $118.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price on shares of Prudential Financial from $129.00 to $125.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on shares of Prudential Financial from $149.00 to $152.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Prudential Financial from $128.00 to $134.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $126.15.

Prudential Financial Stock Performance

Shares of PRU opened at $111.35 on Friday. Prudential Financial, Inc. has a 1 year low of $104.44 and a 1 year high of $130.55. The company has a market cap of $39.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.16 and a current ratio of 0.16. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $115.53 and a 200-day moving average of $119.74.

Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The financial services provider reported $2.96 earnings per share 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%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Prudential Financial, Inc. will post 14.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Prudential Financial Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be issued a $1.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $5.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.85%. This is an increase from Prudential Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.30. Prudential Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 72.29%.

Prudential Financial Company 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.