Gladius Capital Management LP Buys Shares of 2,456 Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU)

Gladius Capital Management LP bought a new stake in shares of Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU – Get Rating) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 2,456 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $266,000.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Prudential Financial by 24.1% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,081,505 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $324,174,000 after purchasing an additional 597,615 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV grew its holdings in shares of Prudential Financial by 59.3% during the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,094,021 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $115,091,000 after purchasing an additional 407,189 shares in the last quarter. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ grew its holdings in shares of Prudential Financial by 97.2% during the third quarter. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ now owns 614,375 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $64,632,000 after purchasing an additional 302,755 shares in the last quarter. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Prudential Financial during the third quarter worth about $28,221,000. Finally, Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH grew its holdings in shares of Prudential Financial by 298.3% during the third quarter. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH now owns 281,606 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $29,625,000 after purchasing an additional 210,896 shares in the last quarter. 56.27% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

In other Prudential Financial news, EVP Andrew F. Sullivan sold 2,231 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.28, for a total value of $237,110.68. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Nicholas C. Silitch sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $109.74, for a total value of $219,480.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 81,975 shares of company stock valued at $9,821,709. 0.31% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

PRU has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Prudential Financial from $113.00 to $120.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 5th. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on Prudential Financial in a research note on Tuesday, January 25th. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $93.00 target price for the company. Evercore ISI lowered Prudential Financial from an “in-line” rating to an “underperform” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $101.00 to $105.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 5th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Prudential Financial from $114.00 to $123.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 22nd. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on Prudential Financial from $114.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 11th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Prudential Financial currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $114.46.

Shares of Prudential Financial stock traded down $3.61 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $108.51. 2,105,229 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,450,013. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 0.06 and a current ratio of 0.06. The company has a market cap of $40.80 billion, a PE ratio of 5.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.08 and a beta of 1.53. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $113.93 and a 200-day moving average of $112.03. Prudential Financial, Inc. has a 12 month low of $94.51 and a 12 month high of $124.22.

Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU – Get Rating) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 3rd. The financial services provider reported $3.18 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.39 by $0.79. The company had revenue of $13.74 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $13.44 billion. Prudential Financial had a return on equity of 9.62% and a net margin of 12.72%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.93 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Prudential Financial, Inc. will post 11.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 11th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 15th were issued a dividend of $1.20 per share. This represents a $4.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.42%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 14th. This is an increase from Prudential Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.15. Prudential Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 24.73%.

Prudential Financial Company Profile (Get Rating)

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 eight segments: PGIM, Retirement, Group Insurance, Individual Annuities, Individual Life, Assurance IQ, International Businesses, and Closed Block.

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