Sunbelt Securities Inc. Cuts Stake in Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU)

Sunbelt Securities Inc. lowered its position in shares of Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU) by 4.5% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 12,424 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 581 shares during the quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc.’s holdings in Prudential Financial were worth $1,459,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in PRU. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Prudential Financial by 2.9% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,315,215 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $124,801,000 after acquiring an additional 36,599 shares during the period. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. grew its position in shares of Prudential Financial by 13.4% during the third quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. now owns 6,076 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $577,000 after buying an additional 720 shares in the last quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. grew its position in shares of Prudential Financial by 9.8% during the third quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. now owns 97,608 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $9,262,000 after buying an additional 8,687 shares in the last quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Prudential Financial by 80.4% during the third quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 22,667 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,151,000 after buying an additional 10,102 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mutual Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Prudential Financial by 1.9% during the third quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC now owns 27,640 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,623,000 after buying an additional 510 shares in the last quarter. 56.83% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Prudential Financial

In other news, EVP Robert Falzon sold 130,092 shares of Prudential Financial stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $118.57, for a total transaction of $15,425,008.44. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 202,083 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,960,981.31. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, major shareholder Insurance Co Of Ame Prudential bought 652,884 shares of Prudential Financial stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 20th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $27.57 per share, for a total transaction of $18,000,011.88. Following the acquisition, the insider now owns 3,883,390 shares in the company, valued at $107,065,062.30. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Robert Falzon sold 130,092 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $118.57, for a total value of $15,425,008.44. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 202,083 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,960,981.31. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Prudential Financial Price Performance

Prudential Financial stock traded down $0.57 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $118.59. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,118,584 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,485,065. The company has a quick ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 0.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $115.87 and its 200-day moving average price is $110.65. Prudential Financial, Inc. has a 12 month low of $84.02 and a 12 month high of $121.39. The company has a market capitalization of $42.57 billion, a PE ratio of 20.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 1.35.

Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU) last issued 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). The company had revenue of $15.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.50 billion. Prudential Financial had a return on equity of 15.50% and a net margin of 3.76%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 69.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.66 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Prudential Financial, Inc. will post 13.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Prudential Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 13th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 21st were paid a dividend of $1.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 20th. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.38%. Prudential Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 88.44%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have commented on PRU shares. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Prudential Financial from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $121.00 to $143.00 in a report on Wednesday, May 22nd. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on shares of Prudential Financial from $115.00 to $116.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Prudential Financial from $100.00 to $106.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Prudential Financial from $109.00 to $117.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on Prudential Financial from $112.00 to $118.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target 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.