Vanguard Group Inc. Cuts Stock Position in Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU)

Vanguard Group Inc. trimmed its stake in Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU) by 1.4% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 41,714,460 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 578,393 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned 0.12% of Prudential Financial worth $4,897,278,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of PRU. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in Prudential Financial by 10.8% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,000,665 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $414,926,000 after purchasing an additional 388,363 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Prudential Financial by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,346,612 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $243,367,000 after acquiring an additional 72,696 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in Prudential Financial by 9,281.4% in the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,368,839 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $141,962,000 after acquiring an additional 1,354,248 shares during the last quarter. abrdn plc lifted its position in Prudential Financial by 37.5% in the 4th quarter. abrdn plc now owns 1,107,210 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $114,829,000 after acquiring an additional 302,164 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Prudential Financial during the 4th quarter valued at $113,478,000. 56.83% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on PRU. Evercore ISI upped their price target on Prudential Financial from $115.00 to $116.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Prudential Financial from $118.00 to $128.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 2nd. Piper Sandler lowered their price objective on shares of Prudential Financial from $125.00 to $121.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, May 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on shares of Prudential Financial from $118.00 to $121.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Prudential Financial from $120.00 to $123.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $116.67.

Insider Activity

In other Prudential Financial news, SVP Timothy L. Schmidt sold 5,189 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 8th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at approximately $1,426,472.88. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other news, SVP Timothy L. Schmidt sold 5,189 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $116.58, for a total value of $604,933.62. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 12,236 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,426,472.88. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Robert Falzon sold 130,092 shares of Prudential Financial stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $118.57, for a total value of $15,425,008.44. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 202,083 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,960,981.31. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Prudential Financial Stock Performance

NYSE PRU traded down $1.54 on Friday, hitting $123.76. 1,427,335 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,304,839. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $118.76 and its 200-day moving average price is $112.75. Prudential Financial, Inc. has a 52-week low of $87.95 and a 52-week high of $128.52. The company has a current ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 0.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. The company has a market capitalization of $44.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.05, a P/E/G ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 1.34.

Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.50 billion. Prudential Financial had a net margin of 3.76% and a return on equity of 15.50%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 69.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.66 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Prudential Financial, Inc. will post 13.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Prudential Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 13th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 21st were paid a $1.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 20th. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.20%. Prudential Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 88.44%.

About Prudential Financial

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.