VCI Wealth Management LLC Sells 5,673 Shares of Prudential Financial, Inc. $PRU

VCI Wealth Management LLC reduced its stake in Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU) by 29.4% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 13,619 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 5,673 shares during the quarter. VCI Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Prudential Financial were worth $1,330,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PRU. Brighton Jones LLC raised its holdings in Prudential Financial by 3.7% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 3,681 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $436,000 after acquiring an additional 133 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its holdings in Prudential Financial by 30.5% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 17,690 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,976,000 after acquiring an additional 4,134 shares during the period. Brown Advisory Inc. grew its position in shares of Prudential Financial by 3.5% in the second quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 4,164 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $447,000 after purchasing an additional 140 shares during the last quarter. AXA S.A. increased its stake in shares of Prudential Financial by 25.8% in the second quarter. AXA S.A. now owns 56,700 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $6,092,000 after purchasing an additional 11,630 shares during the period. Finally, NewEdge Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Prudential Financial by 15.1% during the 2nd quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 37,277 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,005,000 after purchasing an additional 4,895 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 56.83% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently commented on PRU. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “underweight” rating and set a $92.00 price target (down from $106.00) on shares of Prudential Financial in a report on Monday, May 4th. Argus lowered shares of Prudential Financial from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 9th. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Prudential Financial from $89.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on shares of Prudential Financial from $100.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 13th. Finally, Evercore reaffirmed a “negative” rating on shares of Prudential Financial in a research report on Friday, March 6th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and five have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $101.92.

Prudential Financial Trading Up 1.3%

Shares of PRU stock opened at $108.38 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $102.51 and a 200-day moving average of $104.28. The stock has a market cap of $37.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.15, a P/E/G ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 0.86. Prudential Financial, Inc. has a 52-week low of $91.89 and a 52-week high of $119.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a quick ratio of 0.16 and a current ratio of 0.16.

Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 5th. The financial services provider reported $3.61 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.09 by $0.52. Prudential Financial had a return on equity of 16.33% and a net margin of 5.83%.The company had revenue of $15.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.10 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $3.29 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Prudential Financial, Inc. will post 13.81 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Prudential Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 11th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 26th were paid a $1.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 26th. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.2%. Prudential Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 57.61%.

Prudential Financial 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.