Founders Financial Alliance LLC Reduces Position in Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU)

Founders Financial Alliance LLC lowered its stake in shares of Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU) by 28.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,434 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 975 shares during the period. Founders Financial Alliance LLC’s holdings in Prudential Financial were worth $252,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Choreo LLC grew its holdings in shares of Prudential Financial by 163.5% during the fourth quarter. Choreo LLC now owns 6,940 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $720,000 after buying an additional 4,306 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its holdings in Prudential Financial by 2.9% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,315,215 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $124,801,000 after acquiring an additional 36,599 shares during the last quarter. Arvest Investments Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Prudential Financial during the 4th quarter worth $2,112,000. Tyche Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Prudential Financial in the fourth quarter valued at $815,000. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in Prudential Financial by 14.5% in the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 268,728 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $25,500,000 after purchasing an additional 34,054 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 56.83% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Prudential Financial

In other Prudential Financial news, SVP Timothy L. Schmidt sold 5,189 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $116.58, for a total value of $604,933.62. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 12,236 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,426,472.88. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Prudential Financial news, SVP Timothy L. Schmidt sold 5,189 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $116.58, for a total value of $604,933.62. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 12,236 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,426,472.88. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Ann M. Kappler sold 7,222 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $108.39, for a total transaction of $782,792.58. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 24,381 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,642,656.59. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 164,536 shares of company stock valued at $19,245,606 over the last 90 days. 0.31% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Prudential Financial Stock Up 1.3 %

Shares of NYSE PRU traded up $1.51 on Friday, hitting $119.36. The company had a trading volume of 1,254,163 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,481,324. The company has a quick ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 0.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. Prudential Financial, Inc. has a 12-month low of $78.40 and a 12-month high of $121.39. The firm has a market capitalization of $42.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.30, a PEG ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 1.35. The business has a 50 day moving average of $114.68 and a two-hundred day moving average of $107.23.

Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The financial services provider reported $3.12 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.16 by ($0.04). Prudential Financial had a return on equity of 15.50% and a net margin of 3.76%. The company had revenue of $15.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.50 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.66 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 69.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Prudential Financial, Inc. will post 13.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Prudential Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 13th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 21st will be given a $1.30 dividend. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.36%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 20th. Prudential Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 88.44%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have commented on PRU shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on Prudential Financial from $112.00 to $118.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Raymond James lowered shares of Prudential Financial from a “strong-buy” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 9th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Prudential Financial from $100.00 to $106.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. UBS Group upped their price objective on Prudential Financial from $108.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, February 12th. Finally, TheStreet upgraded Prudential Financial from a “c+” rating to an “a-” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 6th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $115.25.

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.