Prudential PLC Cuts Stake in Prudential Financial, Inc. $PRU

Prudential PLC reduced its holdings in shares of Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU) by 10.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 124,377 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 14,867 shares during the period. Prudential PLC’s holdings in Prudential Financial were worth $14,040,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vise Technologies Inc. increased its stake in Prudential Financial by 114.8% during the 4th quarter. Vise Technologies Inc. now owns 12,035 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,358,000 after buying an additional 6,433 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. increased its stake in Prudential Financial by 3.0% during the 4th quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 64,506 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $7,281,000 after buying an additional 1,876 shares during the period. State of Wyoming increased its position in shares of Prudential Financial by 3.6% in the 4th quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 3,811 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $430,000 after purchasing an additional 133 shares during the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc increased its position in shares of Prudential Financial by 29.2% in the 4th quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 392,595 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $44,316,000 after purchasing an additional 88,761 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sivia Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Prudential Financial in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $317,000. 56.83% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Prudential Financial Trading Up 1.3%

NYSE PRU opened at $104.67 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 0.16 and a quick ratio of 0.16. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $99.54 and its 200 day moving average price is $104.30. The company has a market capitalization of $36.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.88 and a beta of 0.86. Prudential Financial, Inc. has a 12 month low of $91.89 and a 12 month high of $119.76.

Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The financial services provider reported $3.61 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.09 by $0.52. The firm had revenue of $15.23 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.10 billion. Prudential Financial had a net margin of 5.83% and a return on equity of 16.33%. During the same period last year, the firm posted $3.29 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Prudential Financial, Inc. will post 13.84 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Prudential Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 11th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 26th will be given a $1.40 dividend. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 26th. Prudential Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 57.61%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have commented on PRU shares. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Prudential Financial from $89.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on shares of Prudential Financial from $100.00 to $106.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 13th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on shares of Prudential Financial from $91.00 to $87.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. Morgan Stanley reissued an “underweight” rating and issued a $92.00 price objective (down from $106.00) on shares of Prudential Financial in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Finally, Mizuho increased their price objective on shares of Prudential Financial from $96.00 to $101.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and six have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Prudential Financial currently has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $101.50.

Prudential Financial Company 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.