Sei Investments Co. Boosts Stake in Prudential Financial, Inc. $PRU

Sei Investments Co. lifted its holdings in Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU) by 81.8% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 446,647 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 200,947 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co. owned about 0.13% of Prudential Financial worth $43,634,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of PRU. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of Prudential Financial by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 17,234,061 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,945,381,000 after buying an additional 210,959 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Prudential Financial by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,533,806 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,078,904,000 after buying an additional 26,414 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley grew its stake in Prudential Financial by 6.7% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 6,649,202 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $750,562,000 after acquiring an additional 420,081 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in Prudential Financial by 4.6% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,758,545 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $367,089,000 after acquiring an additional 166,641 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in Prudential Financial by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,428,696 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $274,151,000 after acquiring an additional 15,865 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 56.83% of the company’s stock.

Prudential Financial Trading Down 0.1%

Shares of Prudential Financial stock opened at $119.83 on Monday. 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 stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $108.91 and its 200-day simple moving average is $104.27. The stock has a market cap of $41.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.33, a P/E/G ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 0.85. Prudential Financial, Inc. has a 1-year low of $91.89 and a 1-year high of $120.58.

Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The financial services provider reported $3.61 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.09 by $0.52. The firm had revenue of $15.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.10 billion. Prudential Financial had a return on equity of 16.33% and a net margin of 5.83%.During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $3.29 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Prudential Financial, Inc. will post 13.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Prudential Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 11th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 26th were paid a $1.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 26th. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.7%. Prudential Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 57.61%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PRU has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Mizuho increased their price objective on shares of Prudential Financial from $101.00 to $109.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Morgan Stanley restated an “underweight” rating and set a $92.00 price target (down from $106.00) on shares of Prudential Financial in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Zacks Research raised shares of Prudential Financial from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, June 12th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Prudential Financial from $100.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on Prudential Financial from $90.00 to $92.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and five have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Prudential Financial has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $105.46.

About Prudential Financial

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.