The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Sells 9,529 Shares of Prudential Financial, Inc. $PRU

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company trimmed its stake in Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU) by 5.2% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 174,531 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 9,529 shares during the quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company’s holdings in Prudential Financial were worth $18,837,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in PRU. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in Prudential Financial in the second quarter valued at about $3,507,481,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Prudential Financial during the second quarter valued at about $209,055,000. Deutsche Bank AG bought a new stake in shares of Prudential Financial in the 2nd quarter valued at about $157,752,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its holdings in shares of Prudential Financial by 95.3% in the 1st quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 2,556,748 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $249,769,000 after buying an additional 1,247,371 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Prudential Financial in the 4th quarter worth approximately $140,530,000. 56.83% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Prudential Financial

In other Prudential Financial news, major shareholder Insurance Co Of Ame Prudential sold 214,746 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.75, for a total transaction of $5,314,963.50. Following the sale, the insider owned 7,973,657 shares in the company, valued at approximately $197,348,010.75. The trade was a 2.62% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Ann M. Kappler sold 7,652 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $125.01, for a total value of $956,576.52. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 14,407 shares in the company, valued at $1,801,019.07. This represents a 34.69% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 0.05% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Prudential Financial Stock Performance

Shares of Prudential Financial stock opened at $119.80 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $117.95 and a 200 day moving average price of $106.27. The firm has a market capitalization of $41.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.85, a PEG ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a quick ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 0.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62. Prudential Financial, Inc. has a 52 week low of $91.89 and a 52 week high of $127.72.

Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The financial services provider reported $4.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.52 by $0.56. The business had revenue of $14.15 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.36 billion. Prudential Financial had a net margin of 6.51% and a return on equity of 16.68%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $3.58 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Prudential Financial, Inc. will post 14.35 EPS for the current year.

Prudential Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 25th will be issued a dividend of $1.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 25th. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.7%. Prudential Financial’s payout ratio is 50.72%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Prudential Financial from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Prudential Financial from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Prudential Financial from $129.00 to $131.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, August 17th. Barclays increased their price objective on Prudential Financial from $90.00 to $92.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. Finally, Argus downgraded Prudential Financial from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and five have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $109.31.

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.